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By Steven Scheer JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Wednesday it was considering regulation of bitcoin and warned citizens that using such decentralized virtual currencies was risky. Israel, home to pioneering firms in hi-tech fields such as cryptography, has emerged as a bitcoin hotspot, prompting central bank governor Karnit Flug to convene a meeting this week with other regulators, including those for capital markets, taxes, securities and money laundering and terror financing. It was agreed to continue to examine various perspectives related to the use of, and trade in, virtual currencies, the authorities said in a joint statement on Wednesday. These perspectives include possible macro effects, their legal standing, their regulation, money laundering and terror financing risks, taxation and consumer protection. They said the Israeli public should be aware that bitcoin is unsupervised, is not legal tender and presents fertile ground for fraudulent activities.