Companies which trade Bitcoin within Israel could soon face much tougher rules imposed by the nation\'s financial regulators.

Reuters reports that Shmuel Hauser, from the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) has stated that proposals will be considered by the ISA board in early 2018, which will seek to prohibit companies which have a major involvement in trading bitcoin will be prevented from trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).

Hauser said, \"If there is a company who mainly deal in digital currencies, we would forbid it. If the company has already been listed on the TASE, any future trading will be suspended.\" If this proposal is approved by the ISA, it would also need to be approved by a public hearing before it would come into force.

This move follows an ISA decision made in August 2017 to investigate the current laws which apply to initial coin offerings. The proposal could also be a response to Israeli companies which have seen their stock prices rise as a result of rebranding themselves using names related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

The comments from Hauser follow a volatile few weeks on cryptocurrency markets which have seen record prices and sharp corrections.