Four members of the Israeli legislature are recommending that digital currencies be treated more like fiat for tax purposes. According to a report from Israeli news outlet Globes, Knesset members MK Oded Forer, Yevgeny Soba, Yulia Malinovsky, and Alex Kushnir proposed on Sept. 22 that the government body amend existing tax law so that digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) would not be subject to capital gains taxes. Under current income tax policy, Bitcoin is treated as an asset and taxed 25% whenever individuals convert their tokens into fiat, or 15% for short-term lenders. “The regulatory reality in Israel is not …

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) plans to launch its blockchain-based securities lending pool in November. In an announcement on July 28, TASE said the platform will serve an essential function in the country’s capital markets, which currently lack a central system for securities lending. Contrary to the current set-up —— which fails to meet the needs of investors, in TASE’s view — the new blockchain-based system will concentrate all securities lending activities under one roof and enable direct borrowing among investors across a range of major financial instruments. Tried and tested In March of this year, TASE launched a …

Kirobo, a two-year-old Israeli blockchain startup, announced on Tuesday that it has found a way to tackle problems related to human error in cryptocurrency transactions. In a recent survey by the Fio Foundation, 55% of respondents reported experiencing stressful human errors when sending cryptocurrency, and 18% reported loss of funds due to such errors. As such, Kirobo has invented “Retrievable Transfer,” a way for senders to cancel a transaction that is sent to the wrong address. Kirobo provides a unique code to the sender and the receiver has to enter the matching password in order to receive the transfer. “Until …

A Russian hacker was sentenced to nine years in prison by a U.S. court on June 26. The hacker, Aleksei Burkov, was previously considered to be of personal interest by Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Exclusive cybercrime with premium $5k membership fee Burkov was accused of running a website called “Cardplanet” which sold payment card information: “Many of the card numbers offered for sale belonged to U.S. citizens. The stolen credit card data sold on Burkov’s site has resulted in over $20 million in fraudulent purchases made using U.S. credit card accounts.” Allegedly Burkov also ran an exclusive invite-only club for …

An Israel-based company reportedly paid $250,000 in Bitcoin for a ransom payment demanded by hackers that threatened to shut down its systems after a ransomware attack. According to a source quoted by Calcalist on June 14, Sapiens International Corp. N.V. — a Nasdaq and Tel Aviv-listed software company — didn’t report the decision to the securities’ regulators of either the U.S. or Israel. The ransomware attack happened at some point between March and April, when the COVID-19 outbreak exploded across the globe, forcing most of the company’s employees to switch to remote work. A suspected security breach during the early …

The Commodity and Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC) has charged executives of American and Israeli firms for an alleged $15 million scam involving cryptocurrencies and binary options. Court documents filed on May 5 mention two major scams, the first involving binary options, which was carried out between October 2013 and November 2016, and the second involving digital assets, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which was carried out between November 2013 and August 2018. The CFTC charged Israel-based Tal Valariola and Itay Barak of Digital Platinum Limited for aiding the United States-based firm All In Publishing (AIP) to create and …

Crypto- and blockchain-focused companies around the world have been making efforts to support people amid the coronavirus pandemic, with some of them donating funds to nonprofits and providing supplies to hospitals. Israeli blockchain startup Orbs came up with an idea to encourage people to self-quarantine by using a newly launched app. The app, which is dubbed "Stay at Home Challenge," is designed to assure that the user does not leave the nearby radius once they enter their location in the app. The app tracks users' self-quarantine time and notifies them when they abandon the designated home area, according to an …

Cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has acquired Israeli non-custodial wallet provider Portis. Founded in 2018, Portis is a non-custodial software wallet that was first integrated into ShapeShift last November as part of the exchange’s pursuit of self-custody solutions that don’t require traders to use a hardware wallet. Speaking to Cointelegraph on April 15, ShapeShift founder Erik Vorhees revealed that following the acquisition, ShapeShift users will have integrated access to multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and services. Meanwhile, Portis users will be able to log in with their Portis wallet and trade cryptocurrencies on ShapeSift commission-free. Migrating "away from fiat and banks altogether" …

Governments are now considering tracking online user data as a way to fight the rapid spread of COVID-19. As a result, the question of personal data privacy is increasingly becoming a subject of discussion within the crypto community. On March 17, the Washington Post reported that the United States government was in talks with internet giants like Facebook and Google about using smartphone location data to combat COVID-19. One highlighted tactic includes tracking whether people are self-isolating in a way that successfully stems the outbreak, as has already occured in Israel, China, and Iran. In recent years, leaders in the …

Israeli banks should not deny services to firms involved with cryptocurrencies, according to Israel's attorney general Avichai Mandelblit. Instead of halting financial services for all crypto firms, banks should closely examine each case for indicators of money laundering risks or other illicit financial practices, Mandelblit told the Tel Aviv District Court. Mandelblit’s stance purportedly opposed to a position by Israeli central bank Mandelblit’s stance — reported by Israeli news agency Globes on Feb. 19. — is in opposition to the view of the country’s central bank, the Bank of Israel. During 2019 a number of Israeli banks froze the accounts …

Israeli blockchain startup Clear has raised $13 million in a Series A round led by Fidelity-backed Eight Roads. Clear — which develops blockchain networks for high-volume transaction systems between businesses — announced the round’s completion in a statement via TechCrunch on Feb. 5. Eight Roads is a global venture firm that originates in Fidelity’s first investment business, Fidelity Ventures. Other participants in the Series A for Clear were the venture funds of several global telecoms leaders: Spain’s Telefónica Innovation Ventures, the Telekom Innovation Pool of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, Hong Kong telco HKT and Singapore’s Singtel Innov8. Telecoms is Clear’s first …

French, Belgian and Israeli investigators have brought down a scheme that defrauded €6 million ($6.64 million) from French and Belgian citizens, a Jan 29. press release from Europol reads. The fraudsters promised significant returns for the victims’ investment in what appears to have been a Ponzi scheme. The international network of fraudsters was allegedly masterminded by a French-Israeli citizen. Authorities arrested nine suspects connected with the scam in 2019. The investigation started in 2018 and was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust. The criminals reportedly set up a system promising large gains from investments in Bitcoin, diamonds and gold, and offered …