Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to create crypto platform

Published at: Oct. 24, 2022

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) disclosed on Oct. 24 the creation of a blockchain-based platform to expand its trading services to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets as part of the new strategic plan for the years 2023 to 2027.

The exchange stated about its venture into crypto and the creation of a digital asset platform:

"TASE will promote the implementation of innovative technologies, including DLT, tokenizing of various classes of digital assets and smart contracts. TASE intends to examine multiple potential action plans, including conversion of existing infrastructure to innovative technologies, deployment of innovative technologies into specialized platforms, offering a basket of services and products for digital assets and more."

Additionally, the five-year plan will include developing and selling technological solutions and services to other exchanges and market participants, expanding its market reach, and transitioning to a private firm model through the creation of a new publicly traded holding company with 100% ownership of the bourse.

Its subsidiaries will act as units of the new holding company. "The new structure will consist of a holding company with several subsidiaries (both existing subsidiaries and subsidiaries that will be established to further the goals of the plan)," said TASE, which went public in 2019.

Within the new strategic plan, TASE's management has set a five-year CAGR revenue target of 10% to 12% from organic growth. The reshaping of TASE's ownership structure may also include the "implementation of a plan for strategic purchases and/or investments in its areas of activity and/or in areas that offer added value to its activity," stated the company, referring to a possible acquisition-plan of foreign and small exchanges.

The plan, which TASE claims was based on an analysis of industry trends, came days after the company announced a partnership with Israel's Ministry of Finance to test a blockchain-backed platform for digital bonds trading. Under the name Eden, the bonds will be issued by the Ministry of Finance, and the project aims to reduce costs and streamline the issuance of national bonds.

TASE announced in September its partnership with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), along with other central banks, to explore the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for international retail and remittance payments. The collaboration, dubbed Project Icebreaker, will involve testing key functions and the technological feasibility of interlinking domestic CBDC via proof-of-concept systems.