The Israel Capital Market Authority approved for the first time a stablecoin pegged to the shekel.
Bits of Gold, the Tel Aviv-based cryptocurrency exchange, was authorized to issue the token after a two-year evaluation and pilot process, the authority said in a post on LinkedIn.
The token, BILS, was developed in collaboration with the Solana network and cryptocurrency custodian heavyweights Fireblocks with audit oversight provided by Big Four consultancy EY, Bits of Gold said in an emailed statement.
The size of the stablecoin sector (cryptotokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset, typically a fiat currency) has grown in the last 18 months to more than $300 billion driven by the establishment of formal regulatory regimes in major markets such as the United States.
The overwhelming dominance of US dollar-pegged tokens in the sector has raised concerns in markets outside the US about the threat of losing financial and digital sovereignty if all on-chain payments use the dollar as the unit of account.
“The Israeli shekel has become one of the highest-performing fiat currencies among developed markets, supported by a resilient technology sector and consistent macroeconomic management,” Bits of Gold said in its Monday announcement.
The shekel has gained more than 20% against the dollar over the past year, according to Visual Capitalist, making it the best-performing currency among countries with an annual gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding $250 billion.
“Bringing the shekel onto the chain positions it alongside other leading currencies, including the euro, yen and Singapore dollar, which are beginning to gain traction in blockchain-based financial systems,” the company said.
