Israel’s Stock Exchange Says It Is Launching a Blockchain Platform for Securities Lending

CORRECTION (July 28, 13:35 UTC): An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of the platform launch. TASE said it expects to go live Nov. 2; it has not done so yet. The earlier version also misplaced Tel Aviv, which is in central Israel, not the north.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has said it is launching a new blockchain platform that it claims will become the “one-stop-shop” for lending securities in the country.

• TASE said Monday the Central Blockchain Securities Lending Platform will provide a single national market where Israeli institutions can lend securities directly to one another
• The platform is set to go live on Nov. 2.
• Based in the city of Tel Aviv, TASE is the only public stock exchange in Israel.
• Blockchain facilitates peer-to-peer trading and escrow all with near-guaranteed immutability, the exchange said in a statement.
• Not only does the new platform give traders greater flexibility and versatility, but it can also cut costs and enhance security, it added.
• This replaces a complicated and disjointed lending system and allows the securities lending market to reach its full potential, TASE concluded.
• The blockchain securities lending system has been in the testing phase since March 2020.

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