Overview
- Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority cleared BILS, a shekel-pegged token from licensed firm Bits of Gold, for a controlled market launch after a two-year pilot on the Solana blockchain.
- BILS must hold backing assets in Israel in segregated accounts and keep a one-to-one peg to the shekel, with set rules for liquidity, user redemptions, and ongoing regulatory reporting.
- The token is meant to let people and businesses move shekels on-chain for real-time payments, trading, and programmable finance, offering a local-currency option in a market led by dollar stablecoins.
- The issuer remains under active supervision as officials draft a stablecoin law and the Bank of Israel continues separate work on a central bank digital currency.
- Israel’s move places it among countries testing regulated, domestic-currency stablecoins designed to connect national money to blockchain payment rails.