Is A Palestinian Bitcoin On The Way?
Palestinians are planning to create a Bitcoin-style currency that would help the Palestinian economy operate independently of Israeli influence.
According to a report in Reuters, the Palestine Monetary Authority is designing the currency, which would be called the Palestinian pound. It aims to have the currency in use in the next five years.
The PMA operates like a central bank, but the Palestinians have no currency of their own. The use of the Israeli shekel is enshrined in the 1994 Paris Protocol.
According to Reuters’ interview with Azzam Shawwa, the head of the PMA, a digital currency makes sense for Palestinians. Because Israel controls the Palestinian Territory’s borders, it could make it difficult for Palestinians to get printed currency into the territory.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at zeveloff@forward.com or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.