Tel Aviv Court Slashes Crypto Exchange Bitin's Fine by 90% Citing Regulatory Investigation Failures

A Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court sharply criticized the Israeli Capital Market Authority (CMA) for investigative shortcomings that led to a 90% reduction in a 1.74 million shekel administrative fine imposed on the cryptocurrency platform Bitin. The platform, operated by well-known crypto trader Bar Meitalman, was accused by the CMA of providing crypto trading services without a license. Meitalman and his father had previously paid a 15 million shekel fine to the Tax Authority following a plea deal for tax evasion and false reporting offenses.

In March 2025, the CMA's Capital Market Commissioner, Amit Gal, ordered Bitin's closure and personally fined Meitalman 1.74 million shekels for operating without the required license. The CMA stated that Meitalman's license application was denied in 2022 due to his criminal record, yet he continued offering unlicensed financial services, including buying and selling virtual currencies.

Meitalman appealed the fine, arguing through his lawyers that the CMA relied on incorrect interpretations and that he had ceased operations, left Israel in February 2023, and had no ongoing business or bank accounts in Israel. The CMA countered that evidence showed he continued offering a wide range of unlicensed crypto financial services in Israel via Bitin's website and communication channels such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

Judge Adi Hadar acknowledged that the evidentiary threshold for administrative fines is lower than in criminal cases but condemned the CMA's failure to conduct basic investigative actions, such as contacting the phone number listed on Bitin's site to verify operations. The judge compared this to other regulators who conduct undercover inspections to gather evidence. The CMA responded that it was prohibited from impersonating financial service consumers.

Due to these investigative lapses, the court reduced the fine from 1.74 million to 174,000 shekels but upheld the ruling that Meitalman violated financial supervision laws. The judge urged relevant authorities to review the CMA's investigative procedures to prevent similar enforcement weaknesses in the future.