Bank of Israel Sets Up Interministerial Team to Formulate Crypto Regulation

The Bank of Israel has announced on Tuesday it has set up an interministerial team intended to coordinate and formulate financial regulatory policy related to virtual assets and blockchain technology in the country.

As part of the new initiative, the bank has issued a request for information to the public, calling to submit position papers by the end of the month regarding issues related to regulating the use of virtual assets.

Israeli regulators have been paying increased attention to virtual assets in the past year, the latest move being the Israel Tax Authority's recent and unilateral decision to open tax accounts for hundreds of Israelis it has identified as having unreported cryptocurrency related revenues.

The new interministerial team includes representatives from numerous Israeli government entities, including the Israel Securities Authority, the country’s Ministry of Finance, and the tax authority.