Israel has already tested a digital shekel cryptocurrency
Jun 22, 2021 23:59:07 GMT -5
Post by Honoria on Jun 22, 2021 23:59:07 GMT -5
Israel has already tested a digital shekel cryptocurrency
The concept of issuing such a currency has been in discussion since 2017, but it decided to accelerate its research and preparation for the potential issuance.
By ZEV STUB JUNE 21, 2021 18:24
Israel has already conducted a pilot test of a digital shekel cryptocurrency, Bank of Israel Deputy Governor Andrew Abir said, perhaps inadvertently, at a recent conference of the Fair Value Forum of IDC Herzliya.
Toward the end of a panel discussion, Abir said the Bank of Israel had already run a digital currency pilot. Another member of the panel seemed surprised and asked: “You have already issued a coin?” Abir responded in the affirmative.
However, Abir said he was not optimistic that such a central-bank digital currency (CBDC) would ever be launched.
“I had previously estimated that the chance of having a CBDC within five years is 20%,” Abir said. “My estimate has increased a bit in the last year, mainly because other countries are advancing with it too. But still there is less than a 50% chance.”
In May, the Bank of Israel said it was preparing an action plan for how it could offer a digital currency. The concept of issuing such a currency has been in discussion since 2017, but it decided to accelerate its research and preparation for the potential issuance “in view of the rapid developments in the digital economy and in payments, and in view of the major central banks’ work on the issue.”
A CBDC would rely on distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain, but it would be different from the cryptocurrencies that are popular today, including bitcoin. The most important difference is that while cryptocurrencies do not belong to any specific country, and some are characterized by having no central authority to manage them, a CBDC issued by a country’s central bank would be regulated by the relevant state authorities.
Full story at link
The concept of issuing such a currency has been in discussion since 2017, but it decided to accelerate its research and preparation for the potential issuance.
By ZEV STUB JUNE 21, 2021 18:24
Israel has already conducted a pilot test of a digital shekel cryptocurrency, Bank of Israel Deputy Governor Andrew Abir said, perhaps inadvertently, at a recent conference of the Fair Value Forum of IDC Herzliya.
Toward the end of a panel discussion, Abir said the Bank of Israel had already run a digital currency pilot. Another member of the panel seemed surprised and asked: “You have already issued a coin?” Abir responded in the affirmative.
However, Abir said he was not optimistic that such a central-bank digital currency (CBDC) would ever be launched.
“I had previously estimated that the chance of having a CBDC within five years is 20%,” Abir said. “My estimate has increased a bit in the last year, mainly because other countries are advancing with it too. But still there is less than a 50% chance.”
In May, the Bank of Israel said it was preparing an action plan for how it could offer a digital currency. The concept of issuing such a currency has been in discussion since 2017, but it decided to accelerate its research and preparation for the potential issuance “in view of the rapid developments in the digital economy and in payments, and in view of the major central banks’ work on the issue.”
A CBDC would rely on distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain, but it would be different from the cryptocurrencies that are popular today, including bitcoin. The most important difference is that while cryptocurrencies do not belong to any specific country, and some are characterized by having no central authority to manage them, a CBDC issued by a country’s central bank would be regulated by the relevant state authorities.
Full story at link