Six Bitcoin funds set to debut in Israel following regulatory approval

Six Bitcoin-tracking funds are set to launch in Israel next week following the recent approval from the Israel Securities Authority. 

According to local media reports, the funds will mirror Bitcoin’s BTCUSD price movements through various indexes and strategies and will be available for purchase at banks and investment firms starting Dec. 31. 

Some of the new funds will track exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched in the United States, such as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT). One of the funds will be actively managed to beat the cryptocurrency’s performance.

As of Dec. 25, the combined market capitalization of all Bitcoin ETFs is approximately $143.2 billion. 

Behind the funds are mutual fund managers in Israel — Phoenix Investment, IBI-Kessem, Meitav, More, Ayalon and Migdal. Management fees will range from 0.25% to 1.5% to 0.25%.

The green light from regulators was granted just last week after two years of requests from asset managers. The funds will allow local investors to get exposure to Bitcoin via Israel’s fiat currency, the shekel. Initially, buy and sell orders will be executed once a day, reflecting Bitcoin’s price at that moment.

“For years now, as an investment house, we have been trying to join the digital currency sector. We launched a mutual fund that deals with companies in the field, recognizing that their price is derived from changes in digital currencies,” Eyal Haim, vice president of Ayalon Mutual Funds, told the Calcalist.

Since May, Israel has been working on the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital shekel, through a new initiative called the Digital Shekel Challenge.

The project invites participants to develop real-time payment systems using the digital shekel, with the Bank of Israel providing a sandbox environment for testing. 

One of Israel’s key goals with the CBDC project is to enhance competition with local banks. While there is public support for the project, concerns over privacy have been raised in the country.