Israeli Authorities Clamp Down Bitcoin Investments
With the general mood being positive on Bitcoin and its ongoing price rally, it seems not all is rosy for the cryptocurrency space. New reports coming out of Israel state that the Israeli Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority has begun a crackdown on cryptocurrency. The financial authority which according to its website is responsible for financial services in insurance, savings and pension has given a directive to insurance and investment companies to account for any Bitcoin-related investments they might have.
In a letter sent out on Wednesday, the financial authority stated that it believes there is no inherent value to Bitcoin and classified it as a speculative asset. This crackdown is believed to be in retaliation to Silver Castle, a digital currency investment house and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange(TASE) announcing the introduction of Bitcoin-linked bonds being available to trade for private companies. TASE in this announcement stated that the bonds would be used directly to purchase Bitcoin and would as a result be subject to its fluctuations in price while also assuring that this would be a good way to introduce willing investors to Bitcoin while reducing their potential risk.
Cryptocurrency Suppression Continues
This development would hardly be surprising for those involved as this comes as the latest in a slew of regulations that seem aimed to strangle the entrance of Bitcoin into the Israeli economy. A draft law published by the Ministry of Finance last month stated that all cryptocurrency holdings in Israel over the amount of $61,000 would need to be reported to tax authorities. This announcement was followed by strong opposition from the Israeli cryptocurrency community and in particular, the Israeli Bitcoin Association which called the law discriminatory and stated that while it understood the wish of the authorities to avoid criminal activity, the new law would negatively affect genuine cryptocurrency traders. Banks are also involved with many refusing to accept transactions from cryptocurrency exchanges and some reports even stating that they also refuse cryptocurrency payments to account holders.
Israel’s attempt is not the first to stifle Bitcoin in its economy. China also seems to be against the emerging cryptocurrency market. Prices in May saw a significant drop following new cryptocurrency regulations by the Chinese government. There was a coordinated effort to stop the influx of Bitcoin into its economy with banks being directed not to conduct any crypto-related transactions, a crackdown on mining in the Sichuan province, and commerce platform Alipay stating that it would also come down on illegal cryptocurrency transactions.
Other countries which have adopted negative stances towards Bitcoin include Russia, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bolivia and others. Some other countries on the other hand have taken positive stances towards Cryptocurrency with El Salvador poised to become the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender and others such as the United States and Canada also having relatively positive stances towards cryptocurrency.
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