Israel’s regulator teases comprehensive crypto framework at ICC

cointelegraph.com:

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century.

While regulation is always a hot topic for the crypto scene, it is always interesting to take a sneak peek behind the curtains and get a sense of how the people writing the rulebook see the state of the game. In late May, Israel’s crypto enthusiasts and entrepreneurs got a chance to do just that as they converged for the annual Israel Crypto Conference, taking place on May 23–25.

Participating on one of its panels was none other than Ilan Gildin, chief economist and strategic adviser at the Israel Securities Authority. Gildin joined other prominent panelists, including Maya Zehavi of a stealth-mode venture fund, and Jonathan Shek of Oz Finance, to share his thoughts on DeFi’s future prospects. That’s where he revealed that a whole array of Israel’s financial authorities had been preparing a comprehensive and holistic regulatory framework for digital assets. The document was coming in the near future, he shared, and the powers that be were looking to foster the growth of Israel’s crypto industry in a responsible and compliant way.

Now, any Israeli will tell you that here, “near future” can mean anywhere between a few weeks and a few years, and the latter is more likely. Still, some in the audience were probably curious to hear about the upcoming rulebook, and Ilan’s acknowledgment that some of crypto’s unique features are indeed valuable. The crypto winter will show which ones those are, he said, as the DeFi space also has its fair share of hot air, too.

Crucially, he also pointed at