A digital shekel is here: Israel approves its first regulated stablecoin
BILS was developed in collaboration with the Solana network and crypto custodian heavyweights Fireblocks with auditing oversight provided by Big Four consultancy firm EY.
What to know:
- Israel granted approval for the first stablecoin pegged to the shekel.
- Bits of Gold was authorized to issue the BILS token under a rulebook set out by the Capital Market Authority.
- The shekel is one of the world’s best-performing currencies against the dollar this year.
The token, BILS, was developed in collaboration with the Solana network and crypto custodian heavyweights Fireblocks with auditing oversight provided by Big Four consultancy firm EY, Bits of Gold said in an emailed statement.
The size of the stablecoin sector — crypto tokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset, usually a fiat currency — has surged in the last 18 months to more than $300 billion fueled by the establishment of formal regulatory regimes in major markets such as the U.S.
The overwhelming dominance of U.S. dollar-pegged tokens in the sector has prompted concerns in markets outside the U.S. about the threat of losing financial and digital sovereignty if onchain payments all default to dollars as their unit of account.
“The Israeli shekel has emerged as one of the stronger performing fiat currencies among developed markets, supported by a resilient technology sector and consistent macroeconomic management,” Bits of Gold said in its Monday announcement.
