Israel's Chief Economist, Shira Greenberg, shares recommendations for crypto regulations.
Israel’s Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance, Shira Greenberg, issued a detailed 109-page report regarding digital assets and their regulations.
According to the press release shared on November 28th, the report overviews digital asset markets worldwide and in Israel, risks and barriers of cryptocurrency markets, and recommendations for regulating digital assets.
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When talking about her report, Chief Economist Shira Greenberg stated that before creating a regulatory framework, authorities must evaluate crypto-related risks, innovations, and digital asset characteristics. Moreover, Greenberg added:
The regulation processes are being formulated and determined during this period in various countries in the Western world and it is recommended that the state of Israel will act in accordance with the emerging standards in the developed world.
In its recommendations, Greenberg highlighted that Israel should introduce more comprehensive regulations and stricter licensing requirements for crypto issuers and crypto trading platforms.
On top of that, Greenberg calls for separate licensing rules and regulations for stablecoins and their issuers. Israel’s Chief Economist also suggested launching an inter-ministerial committee that would examine and supervise decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).
Moreover, Shira Greenberg recommends establishing a tax payment mechanism for digital assets and “expanding the applicability of the regulation of the Securities Authority on assets and activities related to digital assets relating to the applicability of securities laws and concentration.”
Taxing crypto may be one of the most central recommendations. Based on the data shared by Israel’s tax authority, from 2019 to 2022, crypto taxes may have added around seven billion shekels (around $2 billion) to the country's budget.
In the press release, Israel’s Finance Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, praised Shira Greenberg for her work, noting:
I thank the Chief Economist for the comprehensive, professional and dedicated work carried out by her and her staff on the subject, which is the most comprehensive and up-to-date report that currently exists on this subject for use by the government <...>.
However, it seems that Israelis are not very interested in crypto. The data showed that out of its over 9 million citizens, a crypto wallet is owned or used by 2% or around 180,000 citizens.
