Bank of Israel launches digital shekel technological consultation (Bank of Israel)
The Bank of Israel of Israel (BOI) launched the technological consultation process for the digital shekel. Technology experts, academics, potential vendors are invited to help the BOI deepen its understanding of the technological feasibility and potential implementation of key components of the digital shekel system. It outlined six technological consultations, each focusing on a different component derived from preliminary design white paper published in March 2025; backend layer, secure transaction messages and communication, offline capabilities, payment authorization (secure containers and cryptographic key management), alias management, and fraud monitoring. Submissions are due by June 30, 2025. [Read more at the BOI]
G20 TechSprint 2025 – trust and integrity in scalable and open finance (BIS)
The BIS Innovation Hub and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) launched the sixth edition of the G20 TechSprint, aimed at promoting the development of cutting-edge technological solutions to pressing global challenges and the priorities of the global regulatory and central bank community. This year’s TechSprint will focus on building innovative solutions for (i) verifiable digital identity, (ii) consumer-consented credit data portability and (iii) fraud and cyber risk mitigation. Proposals must be submitted by June 20, 2025. Shortlisted teams will be invited to develop their solutions over an eight-week period, and winners will be announced in November 2025. Winners for each of the three categories will receive an award of $30,000, and short-listed projects receive a stipend of about $5,000. [Read more at the BIS]
Robinhood plans blockchain to trade US assets in Europe (Bloomberg)
Robinhood Markets is reportedly developing a blockchain-based platform to allow retail investors in Europe to trade US securities through a partnership with a digital-asset firm. The platform will allow for the trading of tokenized securities, which could increase transparency and standardization and cut costs associated with traditional trading infrastructure. [Read more at Bloomberg]
Coinbase introduces x402: a new standard for internet-native payments (Decrypt)
Coinbase is launching x402, a payment protocol that enables instant stablecoin payments directly over HTTP. It allows APIs, apps, and AI agents to transact seamlessly, unlocking a faster, automated internet economy. x402 uses the HTTP 402 payment status code to let clients, whether human users or AI agents, know that they need to pay up. They could then authorize a stablecoin payment request. Once the server verifies the signature, it broadcasts the transaction to a blockchain and provides access to the content or API, based on a request. In its whitepaper, Coinbase developers claim x402 would remove “account and billing friction from payments” and enable “true pay-per-use access without subscriptions, prepaid credits, or manual invoicing.” [Read more at Coinbase]
And just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So (only) if you work at a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank) and who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at john@kiffmeister.com.
