The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), Israel’s only public trading platform for debt and equity, will be kicking off a five-year plan, from 2023 to 2027, for the development of a new digital asset trading platform. The launch will be part of a new strategy for integrating crypto and blockchain tools into its services, a press statement from 24 October 2022 reveals.
The aim of the new plan is to improve existing markets infrastructure and offer digital asset services and products.
TASE, the statement explains, is also looking to explore the possibility of tapping into the potential of innovative technologies, such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). DLT’s immutable record keeping, tokenization, and smart contracts could all be of use.
Speaking about the development, Itai Ben Zeev, CEO of the stock exchange, says, according to the press note, “We see, in the next five years, a critical window of opportunity for the integration of the Israeli Stock Exchange in the technological revolution that the world’s capital markets are going through.” Israel, in his view, not only intends to be part of the technological revolution but to lead it.
In addition, the five-year plan includes developing and selling technological solutions and services to other exchanges and market participants. Also on the agenda are expanding market reach and transitioning to a private-firm model.
The TASE announcement comes a few days after its decision to partner with the country’s finance ministry to test a blockchain-backed platform for digital bonds trading. The project aims to reduce costs and streamline the issuance of national bonds. All these efforts take the country a step closer toward the institutionalization of crypto.
Israel is not the only nation warming up to blockchain technology, which underpins the crypto market. Many others around the world have already started incorporating elements of the technology into their existing infrastructure. The European Union, for instance, approved a pilot to test the use of DLT for settling trades directly.
In response to the development, TASE shares rose 0.8% on the exchange.
