Palestine wants a cryptocurrency instead of shekels

The Palestinian government is considering replacing the Israeli shekel with a cryptocurrency. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh was to confirm this information.

Independence policy

Shtayyeh was supposed to point out, that his government will examine every possible way to ensure freedom for Palestinians and their economy. The Prime Minister came to power mainly thanks to the slogans about transforming the economy and making it independent of the shekel. This is certainly not an easy task since nearly 25 billion shekels (7 billion dollars) are in circulation in Palestine. However, before Palestine can pay with a cryptocurrency, it must estimate its ability to stabilize and determine its value. What should also be taken into consideration, is if society will be ready to accept it. At least that's what Bakr Shtayyeh, an economics professor at the Najah University thinks:

If Palestine sets up its currency, will it be able to stop Israel from controlling imports and exports of goods? Will it be able to do business with neighbouring countries without accepting the flow through Israel? The problem of the Palestinian economy is not the currency, but too much dependence on Israel.

Shekel in Palestine

Israeli Shekel has been operating in Palestine since April 1994, when a special agreement had been signed in Paris. According to it, the Palestinian Monetary Office also received the status of the central bank. It obliges Palestine to use the Israeli shekel for all official transactions. Experts believe that the Shekel already functions so strongly in all spheres of life that its complete removal is not possible. Almost 170,000 Palestinians collect their salaries in new shekels, which means that about 80% of Palestine's transaction volume is the currency.