Bank Leumi, with Galaxy Digital, plans to offer BTC, ETH, and SOL trading to 2.5M retail customers from early 2027. The service, pending Bank of Israel approval, would be the first from an Israeli bank.
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Bank Leumi will offer Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana trading to roughly 2.5 million retail customers from early 2027 through a partnership with Galaxy Digital, the two companies said August 14. The service is described as the first digital asset trading product from a bank in Israel.
Customers of Leumi and its mobile banking arm PEPPER will trade inside a dedicated section of the bank's capital markets application, Leumi Trade. GalaxyOne Institutional provides the trading platform. Custody runs on Galaxy's infrastructure, formerly known as GK8.
"This initiative represents a significant pillar of the bank's innovation strategy and enables us to provide customers with simple, secure, and regulated access to trading digital assets," said Maya Ravia, head of strategy at Bank Leumi.
The plan requires approval from the Bank of Israel. Leumi and PEPPER announced a partnership with Paxos to offer Bitcoin and Ether trading in 2022, but the service never reached customers after the central bank declined to approve it.
Israeli rules have shifted since. The Bank of Israel's Banking Supervision Department removed the automatic delay on deposits from crypto transactions above 100,000 shekels in mid-July. Israel received roughly $22 billion in on-chain value in the 12 months to June 2025, according to Chainalysis.
The Capital Market Authority has circulated a draft that would let licensed companies offer trading in the 50 leading digital assets, subject to a $500 million minimum market capitalization, limits on holder concentration, and registration in jurisdictions including the European Union and New York State.
Galaxy's custody technology arrived through a bankruptcy. Celsius paid $115 million for GK8, a Tel Aviv custody firm, and Galaxy won the platform in Celsius's insolvency proceedings, adding about 40 staff and a Tel Aviv office. GK8 co-founder Lior Lamesh now runs Galaxy Israel.
"The future of finance will run on open, programmable rails, and we believe the banks that move first will define the era that follows," said Lamesh, now chief executive of Galaxy Israel.
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