Israel’s Largest Bank Will Give Bitcoin Trading Another Try
Bank Leumi is partnering with Galaxy Digital to add crypto trading to its digital investment arm, Pepper. Customers should be able to buy, hold, and sell selected digital assets — including Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana — inside the Leumi Trade app in a secured section, with launch expected in early 2027 pending Bank of Israel approval. This follows a failed 2022 attempt to offer BTC and ETH trading through Paxos, which stalled due to regulatory issues. The regulatory environment in Israel has since eased: banks can no longer broadly block fiat from licensed crypto firms, and new rules now cover wallet security, capital requirements, asset segregation, and trading of top coins by market cap. Galaxy will provide execution via GalaxyOne Institutional and custody through GK8. Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, serves about 2.5 million retail customers.
