Recently, Israel took a significant step in attracting foreign investment in cryptocurrency. It passed the preliminary reading of a bill that excludes expatriates from crypto taxes. Specifically, the ones implemented on the capital gains procured from the sale of digital assets. On June 5, 2023, the initial draft received unanimous support from all the ruling coalition parties.
Focusing on Crypto Investment From Foreigners
Knesset member Dan Ilouz proposed the bill that also brought the crypto bonuses at par with stock options. It brings down the current 50% tax to 25% and makes a large number of crypto investors happy. As per the explanatory note, the bill has been prepared to make Israel a better option for crypto investment. It also attempts to enhance the growth prospects of the country in this field.
According to the founders of the Israeli Crypto Companies Forum (ICBW3), Nir Hirshman and Shauli Rejwan, the bill will be instrumental in broadening the country’s regulatory purview on crypto. They also said that this move indicates that Israel is embracing and endorsing cryptocurrency fully. With the proposal of this bill, the Israel Finance Minister shared a crypto-supporting stance with the UK Prime Minister and lawmakers in Europe.
However, the bill proposes that digital currency must not be considered a “security”. The earlier draft which was laid down at the beginning of the year termed cryptocurrency as a “security”. Reportedly, this caused some major concerns among various industries in the country. Also, in the month of April “2023”, the Bank of Israel notified the government about its Central Bank Digital Currency project.
But it stated that the concerned committee will review the plan before greenlighting it. The committee also pointed out some major scenarios related to the development and implementation of the CBDC named “ Shekel”.
Emerging Crypto Regulations Around the World
Countries across the globe are mulling over regulating cryptocurrency. Many of them are in the process of drafting the bill and many are close to implementing it. According to recent news reports, Europe is going to apply the draft by 2024. In the US, the Republicans are working on a similar draft and are almost ready to present it.
The BRICS nations are also keen to bring a cryptocurrency in a bid to wean off the dollar for doing trade and to avoid sanctions. Governments all around the world are trying to embrace digital assets for their own purposes. They are eager to have something as a backup if their own fiat currency falls flat for some reason.
While some others are just willing to make the most of the decentralized technology. In the past few years, private as well as state-run organizations have introduced blockchain-based projects in many domains. All these endeavors indicate that blockchain and its by-products will be an integral part of our lives very soon.
Conclusion
Crypto enthusiasts are hoping that these pro-crypto steps will make this technology a mainstream fintech solution. Judging by Blackrock’s ETF filing and by the market’s response to it, it would be safe to say some big organizations will also be keen to dabble into this space.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/07/08/israel-passes-bill-to-exempt-foreigners-from-crypto-taxes/