Today Israelās stock exchange operatorĀ TASEĀ unveiled its five-year strategic plan that includes a platform for digital assets and āventuring into cryptoā. Last week it announced it would assist the Ministry of Finance in launching blockchain-basedĀ government bonds.
The plan ātakes the development and management of innovative services and products to the next level; we will not only partake in the change but aim to spearhead it,ā saidĀ TASEĀ CEO Ittai Ben-Zeev.
Ben-Zeev spoke about tokenizing various asset classes and using DLT and other technologies to transform the existing infrastructure. It is planning a trading, clearing and custody service, which is not dissimilar to what has been launched by the SIX Digital Exchange and is planned by the Deutsche Börse.
TASE is also considering exporting its DLT, blockchain and tokenization technologies to other small and medium exchanges.
The assets it is considering include private markets,Ā digital bondsĀ as already announced, and other digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, utility tokens and NFTs.
At the same time, it identified the three challenges of regulatory uncertainty, substantial costs, and local and international competition.
The Israeli Security Authority found that 52% of new investors allocate up to 10% of their portfolio to digital assets and 30% of investors hold digital assets. It estimates that Israelis hold 10 billion shekels ($2.8 bn) in digital assets.
Meanwhile, TASE has already developed a blockchain-baedĀ securities lending solution, and its ālending poolā was amongst the proprietary technologies it is considering licensing.