"State Comptroller ban on government ministers to purchase Bitcoin is anachronistic"

State Comptroller Yosef Shapira's ban on government ministers and their deputies to purchase Bitcoin is anachronistic and expresses ignorance and fear of technology, says Eli Bejerano, CEO of Israel's Bit2C.
 
The comptroller did not understand that digital coins were legitimate means of payment, and as it would not occur to him to forbid ministers to buy dollars or any other currency or to open an account in PayPal, there is no reason to prohibit Bitcoin, Bejarano said. Decision makers in Israel have no ability to influence the Bitcoin's rate, so that the fear of conflict of interest is significantly smaller than that of a foreign currency affected by the strengthening of the shekel.
 
It would have been better if the State Comptroller would have been satisfied with the obligation to report and hold investment assets in the trust that is already imposed on the ministers and does not impose a sweeping prohibition on them that sends a negative message to the public in Israel and abroad. This is not the message we expect to hear from a country that rightly boasts the title "nation of the stratap," Bejarano says. Other governmental authorities, such as the tax authorities, formulate the rules of conduct with digital currencies, and they should be congratulated for this, to march with progress and to promote the conversion of the digital currencies into an accepted means of payment.
 
Israel already has more than 40 digital currency start-ups. The messages conveyed by the government can affect the decisions of companies whether to carry out the development in Israel or abroad, and we can become leaders in the developing world, but a fearful policy on the part of government officials may cause us to miss the opportunity.