Fintech CEO: Bank of Israel Grapples With Privacy Concerns in CBDC Debate

While Israel’s central bank is still non-committal on a digital shekel, a new report suggests that they have a significant amount of public support, both in order to support innovation in the fintech sector and reducing cash. It was first considered by the Bank of Israel in 2017, but it re-engaged in additional research late last year. Then, early this year, the country’s central bank noted that it was not likely to erode the banking system.

“It is positive to see the central bank in Israel identifying all the advantages associated with digital assets. Just from a competition point-of-view, it can be seen as a step in the right direction — forcing the payments sector to be more competitive is a major win, in and of itself. On the other hand, major questions still exist on the privacy front. It is important to take time and really determine how a central bank can preserve financial privacy,” said Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital asset exchanges.

“The Bank of Israel has still not made a final decision on whether it will issue a digital shekel… But all of the responses to the public consultation indicate support for continued research regarding the various implications on the payments market, financial and monetary stability, legal and technological issues, and more,” the central bank said in a report.

“The report noted that there was a split among supporters of a CBDC, with some preferring anonymity and others wanting rules which crack down on potential participation in the black market. It is just common sense that, if you allow the government full authority to track the financial transactions of the citizenry, there is a large subsection of the population which will not willingly transition and utilize it,” said Gardner.

Modulus is known throughout the financial technology segment as a leader in the development of ultra-high frequency trading systems and blockchain technologies. Modulus has provided its exchange solution to some of the industry’s most profitable digital asset exchanges, including a well-known multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency exchange. Over the past twenty years, the company has built technology for the world’s most notable institutions, with a client list which includes NASA, NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, Siemens, Shell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago.

People take their privacy seriously, especially since we’ve seen what centralized control of our money supply can do when in the wrong hands — whether that’s Big Tech or the government — just look at what happened to those participating in the Canadian trucker convoy,” noted Gardner.

“The Bank is committed to openness and transparency in its continued research regarding the digital shekel, and expects to continue fruitful dialogue with all interested parties at all stages of research and development in the digital shekel project,” the central bank said.