The idea comes after the country’s recent attempts to use cryptocurrencies in its economy.
Monday, Israel Ministry of Finance released a set of suggestions for how to regulate digital assets. This is a step forward for the country’s move into the world of cryptocurrencies.
The recommendations call for the creation of a new regulatory infrastructure with licensing powers and oversight over the issuance of backed digital assets, like stablecoins, and the provision of financial services through them.
The recommendations also ask for laws to be passed that would give the Bank of Israel control over digital assets “that have a significant effect on stability or money.”
In the guidelines, there is also a plan to let crypto held outside of Israel pay taxes through the Bank of Israel. Also, the proposal would set up an inter-ministerial committee to oversee how decentralized autonomous organizations are regulated (DAO).
A big part of the proposal is about how to tax cryptocurrencies. Israel’s tax authority says that from 2019 to 2022, unpaid crypto taxes could add up to several billion shekels (one shekel is worth about US29 cents).
In the past few months, Israeli officials have been dipping their toes into the digital asset business. In October, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) said it was thinking about making a platform for trading digital assets based on blockchain. A month earlier, Israel’s markets regulator gave the first permanent license to “engage in crypto activities” to a private company.
