Head of Altshuler Shaham Horizon: “Recognition of cryptocurrencies as securities will kill the industry in Israel”

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CEO of Israelicustodial service Altshuler Shaham Horizon believes that if cryptoassets are recognized by local regulators as securities, this will hinder the development of the industry in the country.

Altshuler Shaham Horizon is one of the fewservices for storing and trading crypto assets, which has permission to work with banks. Its CEO, Ilan Sterk, noted that the current regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in Israel is quite confusing. At the beginning of the year, the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) proposed changes to the legislation, according to which the regulator would have expanded powers to supervise the cryptocurrency industry. Public discussions on the ISA proposal will continue until February 12.

Sterk stated that if we classifydigital assets as securities, the situation for the industry will change for the worse. The ISA seeks to tighten its controls on cryptocurrencies, with an emphasis on penalizing non-compliance for cryptocurrency issuers and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Sterk noted that the regulator is trying to change the very definition of securities to include digital assets in order to equate them with traditional finance.

The head of the custodial service believesthat cryptocurrency service providers should be able to operate in Israel if they have a license from foreign regulators. According to Sterk, this would greatly simplify the activities of foreign cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, since obtaining a license in Israel could take several years.

However, last year, the Israeli Ministry of Finance proposed tightening VASP licensing requirements to protect the interests of cryptocurrency investors.