Israel Approved a Shekel Stablecoin on Solana After 2 Years of Live Testing

Key Takeaways

• BILS approved April 28, 2026 by Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority.
• Issuer: Bits of Gold, licensed Israeli crypto brokerage.
• Blockchain: Solana, sub-400ms settlement.
• Reserves: 1:1 shekel-backed, segregated Israeli bank accounts, audited by EY.
• Custody: Fireblocks; privacy: QEDIT zero-knowledge proofs.
• First private stablecoin to exit sandbox status in Israel.

The approval followed a two-year live pilot. The Bank of Israel’s own digital shekel has a roadmap and no issuance date. The private sector defined the standard first.

Evidence Over Anticipation

The Capital Market Authority did not grant BILS a license based on a model of how reserve management and transaction flow would behave. It watched them behave, under real conditions, for two years, then decided. That is an epistemically different process from passing a law. Legislation is built on anticipated risk. A two-year sandbox is built on observed risk. Fo...