Officials from US President Donald Trump's ' Board of Peace ', tasked with overseeing post-war Gaza , are considering establishing a cryptocurrency for the enclave in an alleged attempt to jumpstart its recovery after being devastated by Israel’s war, but with huge suspicions about the plans.
The concept, labelled as a 'stablecoin', is set to be tied to and have a value similar to that of the US dollar, according to a Financial Times report on Monday, citing five sources familiar with the matter.
The 'Board of Peace', a hugely controversial body invented by Trump, will reportedly seek help and expertise from Palestinian and Gulf Arab companies familiar with digital currencies to help kickstart the project, the report added.
One source emphasised that the 'stablecoin' wouldn’t be a new 'Gaza coin' or Palestinian currency, but rather a means for Palestinians in the Strip to conduct digital transactions, although talks on establishing the 'stablecoin' are still in the early stages.
Work on this initiative is reportedly led by former Israeli Intelligence Corps official and tech entrepreneur Liran Tancman, who is allegedly working as an unpaid advisor to Trump on the so-called Board of Peace, which was formally established on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
Tancman said last week that the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, composed of independent Palestinian technocrats set to succeed the current Hamas administration, were working on building "a secure digital backbone, an open platform enabling e-payments, financial services, e-learning, and healthcare with user control over data”.
He also said that Gaza "must be digitally reconnected to the rest of the world," and pledged to upgrade Gaza’s 2G network "with free high-speed access" by July.
Others involved in the project are reportedly officials from the Palestinian technocratic government, led by Ali Shaath, and Nickolay Mladenov , the Bulgarian top diplomat who has been appointed as the Board of Peace's Director-General. Gaza’s economy has been devastated by over two years of Israel’s brutal war with its economy experiencing a near-total collapse in 2024 and GDP shrinking by 83 percent, with cumulative losses reaching 87 percent over the 2023-2024 period.
Israel’s military campaign pushed the enclave’s 2.3 million residents below the poverty line, with unemployment levels reaching 80 percent, basic economic activity coming to a near-halt, and inflation rates surging to new heights.
Around 80 percent of the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, including schools, banks, telecommunications, factories, and more.
Additionally, Israel stopped allowing cash to enter Gaza early in October 2023 after the start of the war, further squeezing Gaza’s economic activity. Israeli military attacks also destroyed countless ATM machines during the war, making cash even less accessible .
Palestinians in Gaza use Israeli shekels, and while the Palestinian Monetary Authority serves as the central bank for both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it does not have the power to issue its own currency.
Some of the sources, however, revealed that there are other motives behind the 'stablecoin' in Gaza. One person told the FT that the aim is to curb the free flow of cash in the Gaza Strip so Hamas "will be unable to generate any" funds. Another said that the introduction of digital transactions would allow for commerce to flourish in Gaza without being bound to the Israeli government.
Another source raised concerns that the 'stablecoin' could lead to the Gaza Strip being 'economically detached' from the West Bank, as both territories seek to be part of an independent Palestinian state. Technocrats to present Hamas disarmament plan The Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with managing the Gaza Strip is expected to present a comprehensive plan for disarming the Palestinian group Hamas next month, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported on Monday.
The plan, which will begin with heavy weapons and progress to lighter weapons, will be implemented "over six months", while Hamas will be required to provide detailed maps of its tunnels and the locations of rockets and other weaponry.
The proposal will not be limited to Hamas, the report said, but will also apply to other armed Palestinian groups and pro-Israeli militias .
The fundamental principle of the plan is "one weapon, one law, under one government", and requires the complete surrender of all weapons from the enclave.
According to Israel Hayom , the plan’s details are being finalised this week, and have gained the support of Arab and Muslim countries, who signed the 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which came into effect in October last year.
Hamas has frequently rejected demands to lay down arms over the course of the war and the ceasefire, stressing that weapons are needed to resist Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian group has been issued with multiple ultimatums to comply with disarmament from Israel, Donald Trump, and the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas .
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Hamas a 60-day ultimatum to surrender their weapons and threatened to resume Israel’s war if the group refused.
On Monday, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened with Israeli army "reoccupation" of all of Gaza if Hamas doesn't proceed with disarmament.