Online gambling is strictly prohibited in Israel so it shouldn't come as too big a surprise that Israel’s Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority have included a clause in their new cryptocurrency legislation that requires bitcoin exchanges and financial institutions to report any transactions made to or from online gambling sites. Israeli banks and credit card companies already block fiat transactions to online bookmakers, poker rooms and casinos, but the rise in popularity of crypto has meant that many Israeli's have been able to indulge in online gambling over the past few years by avoiding traditional financial institutions. This new draft legislation looks to close that door by...
- Forcing banks and exchanges to both monitor and report any suspicious activity relating to gambling with popular cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dash.
- Requiring crypto companies in Israel to report any deposits to wallets of over NIS5K (which is only $1,400, a ludicrously low threshold).
- Businesses that deal in crypto will also be forced to keep a record of their customers activity for 5 years.