Last year, Bitcoin once again became the focus of the financial world, with its price rising by 113% to currently reach $94,200. Now, for the first time, the Israeli public will be able to invest with shekels in a product that tracks Bitcoin. Four mutual fund managers (IBI-Kessem, Meitav, More, and Migdal) filed prospectuses for the launch of funds tracking Bitcoin next week. Ayalon filed a prospectus for a managed fund. The publication of bulletins became possible after the Israeli Securities Authority approved this step last week.
Tracker funds will not be traded on an ongoing basis at this time. Buy and sell orders will be executed once per day. Market sources say that in the future, funds will be launched that will track the price of Bitcoin (or external indices invested in it) continuously throughout the day, so that it will be possible to trade at any time during the session.
The roots of the change in bringing digital currency into the mainstream of the Israeli capital market lie in a regulatory change in the United States earlier this year, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission allowed investment houses there to create ETFs that track bitcoin as an underlying asset. And not just futures contracts on their price as was the case previously.
Bitcoin, which is characterized by high volatility, has recently benefited from a tailwind in the form of statements by US President-elect Donald Trump in favor of cryptocurrencies during his election campaign.
In April this year, the Israel Securities Authority allowed mutual funds to offer prospectuses for investing in futures contracts on Bitcoin and Ethereum through fund tracking. In August, it took it a step further and allowed non-bank members of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to offer trading and custody services in these currencies.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on December 24, 2024.
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