Here's What You Need To Know About Israel's DLT Industry.

On December 18, a group of major Israeli government entities — including the nation's central bank — formally requested information from the public about distributed ledger technology (DLT). In addition to the Bank of Israel, the group includes both the Ministries of Finance and Justice, the Tax Authority, the Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority, the National Cyber Bureau, the Securities Authority and other government entities. The group made the request within the framework of an announcement on Bank of Israel's website entitled "Regulatory Coordination of Virtual Assets." In the request, they stated that they believe information about DLT could improve coordination and cooperation between the public and government entities relating to the uses and applications of DLT. Specifically, the group is requesting information relating to the development of a local DLT industry and the barriers such an industry would face. They want to know exactly what kind of problems DLT companies, investors, fundraisers and consumers encounter with digital assets. They also want to know about the risks that exist in the use of digital assets and what opportunities there are for DLT in the financial sector. Finally, they want to know how DLT can help resolve issues relating to terrorism financing and money laundering. Those interested in submitting information in response to the request can do so up until December 31 of this year by submitting no more than 10 pages to the email address listed on the bank's website. Digital currencies have been making news in Israel in the past few months, though not exactly in positive ways. In November, a government study group that had been investigating the use of digital currencies recommended that Israel's central bank not issue its own digital currency at this time. Then, last month, Ehud Barak — who was the country's prime minister in the early part of the century — compared cryptocurrencies to Ponzi schemes. He further said that he personally would never invest in digital currencies because of this.