🚀Israel's central bank is speeding up the development of its digital shekel, and they're not playing around! They're launching the "Digital Shekel Challenge," inspired by the "Project Rosalind" from the BIS Innovation Hub.

Participants will compete to develop real-time CBDC payment systems for the public in a sandbox environment. It's like the Hunger Games, but for blockchain nerds! 🤓

This initiative could bridge the gap between the Web3 industry and the government, despite the current exclusion of DeFi, zero knowledge, and permissionless solutions.

It's not just for the big guns either - they're inviting entities from private, public, and academic sectors to join the experiment. So, if you've got an innovative idea for the payments world, now's your chance to shine! 💡

But wait, there's more! The digital shekel could also benefit the BoI by encouraging banks to offer higher interest rates. So, it's a win-win situation for everyone involved!

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the digital shekel could be a game-changer? Let's discuss in the comments! 🗨️ #DeFi #Web3 #CBDC

P.S. Don't worry about privacy breaches, they've got that covered too! 😉