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The Israeli government is preparing to issue government bonds through the use of blockchain technology according to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).
Israel’s Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, digital assets custody provider Fireblock and U.S.-based software solutions developer VMware, is set to conduct testing of a blockchain-based platform for digital bonds trading, according to by a local media outlet. Fireblocks and VMWare will assist in the technical execution of the platform, but the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange will lead the project. The project is to be called “Eden” and is aimed at reducing costs and optimizing the procedure of national bond issuance.
Information published by Blockworks explains that the proof-of-concept will include the digitisation of a “new series” of government debt that is to be issued to select local and foreign primary dealers. The TASE said that the platform, which is based on smart contracts and tokenization, will be designed for the clearing and trading of non-crypto digital assets. Reports from Blockworks indicate that this will remain a centralised blockchain for now but said that the permissionless blockchain is compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine. It further explained that “if the Ministry of Finance wanted to issue digital assets on a public chain in the future, there would be little difference.” Yali Rothenerg, as accountant general explained:
I believe that blockchain-based technologies are here to stay, and over time will permeate the core of the financial markets, thoroughly and deeply altering them. It is our duty to constantly examine new technologies and methodologies.
The pilot project is expected to be completed at the end of Q1 in 2023, and during the live test, participating banks will receive a new series of tokenised government bonds on their e-wallets that will transfer the money held in digital currencies to the e-wallet of the Israeli government, according to reports by Cointelegraph.
