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On April 28, 2026, Israel’s Capital Market Authority approved BILS, a privately issued stablecoin by Bits of Gold, backed by the Israeli shekel.
The BILS stablecoin was approved on April 28, 2026. It is issued by Bits of Gold on the Solana network, with settlement times under 400 milliseconds. The stablecoin’s reserves are backed 1:1 and held in segregated Israeli accounts.
The central bank’s digital shekel remains only a plan for now.
In many countries, stablecoins typically launch after legislative changes, often with limited real-world testing. Israel’s approach differed: available information indicates BILS was tested for two years in a real-world environment before approval. During that period, the regulator monitored actual transactions and custody operations.
The decision is presented as being based on a proven model rather than anticipated risk, making BILS the first project of its kind to move from a regulatory sandbox into real-world use.
BILS uses zero-knowledge proof technology. The technology is designed to allow the regulator to verify compliance with predefined transaction rules without seeing transaction details. The model aims to preserve institutional privacy while keeping regulatory oversight and control.
BILS operates on the Solana network. While the regulator controls reserves and the operations of Bits of Gold, it does not control the network itself. Validators are described as global and independent, creating a structural risk that cannot be eliminated within this model.
A central bank digital shekel would address this infrastructure issue through controlled infrastructure, but such a product does not yet exist.
The next six months are expected to be a key test period, particularly whether an Israeli bank integrates BILS. Such integration would indicate that the privacy-and-regulation model works at an institutional level and that BILS is moving from a standalone product toward broader infrastructure use.
The model could be applied elsewhere. Similar solutions are described as emerging in Europe following the introduction of the MiCA framework. Since then, euro-denominated stablecoins have reportedly become more relevant, particularly as many dollar-based solutions face regulatory constraints.
Larger projects such as EURC from Circle are described as positioning themselves in line with the new requirements. For local markets, this is framed as potentially enabling cheaper cross-border payments and more direct access to euro liquidity.
The central question remains whether banks will integrate these solutions and turn them into widely used infrastructure.
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