Bank Of Israel Picks 14 Teams To Propose Use Cases For Digital Shekel

The Bank of Israel rolled out its Digital Shekel Challenge in May this year. The bank invited participants for opinions about the central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The participants submitted their proposals via application programming interfaces (APIs). This project is similar to Project Rosalind, an initiative by the Bank of England and BIS.

Now, the Bank of Israel has gathered 14 teams from the academia, the public sector, and the private sector to understudy the various use cases for the digital Shekel.

The Bank of Israel Will Test The Proposals Through Digital Sandbox

The teams were chosen from a challenge conducted earlier this year. They represent private teams, technology firms, fintech firms, and veteran financial companies. The use cases that were chosen by the central bank’s internal committee perform several functions.

These include the implementation of various technologies, split payments, conditional payments, and subwallets. These features will be taken into consideration while the digital Shekel is used as a means of payment. The central bank will be testing the proposals of the participants via digital sandbox next month.

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, Andre Abir, commented on the development. He stated that the bank has been learning the digital currency process for some time. He added that the bank is discussing with the teams that are interested in the project and is hopeful that the team will learn more from the use cases.

The Goal Is To Build A Strong System For More Innovation

Abir noted that the digital Shekel has the potential to develop innovative payment solutions. However, the efficiency and speed of development will depend on the ability of the private sector to take advantage of the features of the platform that the bank wants to build. The central bank is planning to develop a strong system that can welcome an array of innovative ideas for the CBDC.

Out of the 14 teams selected, 12 of them are Israeli, which is not a surprise given the strong technical skill base in Israel. Abir noted that the two other teams do not have any direct Israeli links. The first one is OxPay while the other one is IDEMIA France, which is popular for its CBDC functionality.

Two of the larger participants are PayPal and Firebloccks, alongside IDEMIA. Although Fireblocks is based in the U.S., it is funded by Israelis.

The platform is popular for its Fireblocks Network and custody technology. Additionally, Fireblocks has been partnering with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) to develop digital assets and digital government bonds.