One of the things this new board is supposed to undertake is restoring some sense of normalcy to how everyday Gazans pay for things, which may include a new stablecoin for the territory, according to a report from the Financial Times. The potential stablecoin is still in a preliminary stage, and it’s not clear whether the cryptocurrency will be something that already exists or a new coin dedicated to the region. This will not be a Gaza Coin or a new Palestinian currency, but a means to allow Gazans to transact digitally.
If Trump’s group did decide to promote an existing coin, there are some obvious choices that would be at the front of the pack. The most popular stablecoin in the world is Tether, which has deep connections to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose firm Cantor Fitzgerald holds a stake in the company. There’s also World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, USD1, which is essentially the official stablecoin of the Trump family, and USD1 briefly depegged to about 0.994 dollars before recovering. The company attributed the incident to hacking claims and FUD spread by paid influencers.
Digital currency comes with its own challenges, given the devastation of the territory’s telecom infrastructure. Gazans have to endure slow and unreliable 2G connections. The work of introducing a stablecoin to Gaza is being led by tech entrepreneur and Israeli Cyber Command co-founder Liran Tancman, who also helped co-found the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The NCAG is building a secure digital backbone, an open platform enabling e-payments, financial services, e-learning, and healthcare with user control over data, according to Tancman.
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