New Bank of Israel Report Goes Against Creating Digital Shekel

New Bank of Israel Report Goes Against Creating Digital Shekel

Digital Shekel

The Bank of Israel released the result of a study commissioned in 2017 to examine the feasibility of issuing a cryptocurrency that would be equivalent in value to the shekel known as Digital Shekel.

The ‘Digital Shekel’ as it was called, the cryptocurrency has been found to be unsuitable to the needs of Israel in a number of areas and consequently the report has recommended that the Israeli central bank should not issue the cryptocurrency in the near future.

A joint team from the Israeli finance ministry and the Bank of Israel was convened under the supervision of outgoing BoI governor Dr. Karnit Flug in 2017 to examine the advantages and disadvantages of issuing an Israeli Central Bank digital Currency (CBDC).

In the report published earlier today, the BoI makes it clear that even though the possibility of issuing a CBDC has not been permanently discarded, the research clearly recommends that the status quo be maintained at least in the immediate future.

An excerpt from the announcement reads:

“The team does not recommend that the Bank of Israel issue digital currency in the near future. It is necessary to continue examining the field and to follow developments around the world before there are proper grounds for a decision to recommend issuing digital currency.”

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