UPDATED 21:53 EST / DECEMBER 25 2017

EMERGING TECH

Israel floats stock exchange ban for companies dealing in bitcoin

Israel looks set to be the latest country to crack down on bitcoin.

The country’s financial regulator said Monday it would move to ban companies based on bitcoin and other digital currencies from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The news came via Shmuel Hauser, chairman of the Israel Securities Authority, who reportedly told a business conference that he would bring the proposal to a board meeting of the ISA next week. Should the ISA agree, the ban itself would still be subject to a public hearing followed by amending to the stock exchange’s bylaws, CNBC reported.

“If we have a company that their main business is digital currencies we would not allow it,” Hauser said. “If already listed, its trading will be suspended. We feel that the prices of bitcoin behave like bubbles and we don’t want investors to be subject to that volatility and uncertainty … There is an importance to signal to the market where things are. Investors should know where we stand.”

Israel’s move to ban listed companies from dealing with cryptocurrencies follows in the footsteps of a number of other countries who have partially or fully banned trading. China banned bitcoin exchanges in September following an earlier ban on initial coin offerings, while South Korea banned ICOs and was looking a placing new restrictions on bitcoin trading in December.

The Israeli justification of restricting bitcoin, based on bubble-like activity, is somewhat odd in terms timing given that the bitcoin bubble perhaps didn’t completely burst on Friday, but it certainly deflated to an extent. After teasing highs of near $20,000 last week, the price of bitcoin dropped 35 percent to trade at near $12,000 at one point, before recovering slightly over the week to be trading at $14,041.59 as of 9:45 p.m. EST Christmas Day.

Other cryptocurrencies trended down at the same time as markets saw massive downswings across the board, with some suggesting that the bull run of 2017 may finally be over.

Image: Maxpixel 

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