Bank of Israel Rejects Netanyahu's Crypto Sanctions Workaround

The Bank of Israel said on October 24 that cryptocurrency cannot be used as a route to circumvent sanctions, rebuking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A day earlier, on October 23, Netanyahu had said Israel should prepare ways around banking sanctions and named crypto as one option.

Details

According to Al Jazeera and Jewish Insider, Netanyahu told Channel 10 on Friday that Israel needs an alternative economic system to prepare for possible sanctions, and predicted that US military aid would eventually end. Bloomberg reported that Israel is weighing crypto among alternatives.

The central bank's statement read: "Cryptocurrency cannot be used as a route to circumvent sanctions." It argued the right course for the economy is to preserve ties with its main trading partners and focus on preventing sanctions.

Netanyahu later told Channel 14 that crypto is "one of the means, it is not the only one" and that he is not sure it would be used. A letter signed by more than 100 Israeli economists and former officials, including Nobel laureate Joel Mokyr, warns that sanctions would do severe damage to the economy and that a crypto workaround would hurt banks and foreign investment. Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot called the idea a national security threat. Israel votes on October 27.

What this means for the market

So far these are political statements: no law or technical plan has been published. The central bank's stance shows that official regulators in major economies still treat crypto more as a risk than a tool for state settlement. The news is background for the market, though the use of digital assets to bypass sanctions remains on regulators' agenda. For the live bitcoin price, see the daily brief and the Bitcoin page.