Israel’s Largest Bank Plans Bitcoin Trading Inside Its Banking App
Israel's largest bank wants to bring crypto trading into the same app its customers already use to invest in traditional markets.
Bank Leumi said on August 13 that it plans to offer Bitcoin, Ether and Solana through Leumi Trade, with a launch targeted for early 2027. The service, which will also cover customers of its digital banking arm PEPPER, still requires approval from the Bank of Israel.
Galaxy confirmed the partnership on August 14 and will supply both the trading and custody infrastructure.
Galaxy Will Power Trading and Custody
According to Galaxy’s announcement, customers will access the service through a dedicated section of Leumi Trade.
GalaxyOne Institutional, its platform for banks and asset managers, will handle trading. Galaxy Custody Infrastructure, formerly GK8, will provide the technology used to safeguard customer assets.
The service will be custodial. Customers would trade and hold crypto through the bank rather than manage private keys or a separate wallet.
Leumi has not provided further detail on whether access will differ between its main banking customers and PEPPER users.
Crypto Ownership Is Already Widespread in Israel
Leumi is entering a market where digital assets already have a sizeable user base.
A January 2026 survey by Geocartography found that 21% of Israeli adults hold cryptocurrency, according to TheMarker.
Many of those users already rely on exchanges and other crypto platforms. Leumi’s planned service would give them the option to trade through their bank instead, while keeping custody within an institutional platform.
It could also remove the need to transfer funds between a bank account and an external exchange for customers who prefer to keep both traditional investments and crypto under one provider.
Leumi Tried a Similar Launch in 2022
The bank has been pursuing a regulated crypto service for several years.
In March 2022, PEPPER announced an agreement with Paxos to offer Bitcoin and Ether trading through Pepper Invest. Customers were supposed to be able to buy, hold and sell the assets without maintaining their own wallet.
That product was also subject to regulatory approval and did not reach the market as announced.
The latest plan replaces Paxos with Galaxy, adds Solana and moves the offering into Leumi Trade. If it receives approval and launches, Leumi says it would become the first Israeli bank to offer direct digital-asset trading through its banking infrastructure.
Approval Will Decide Whether It Launches
The Bank of Israel remains the final hurdle.
Until approval is granted, Leumi’s proposed launch date remains provisional. A successful rollout would revive an effort the bank first made public through PEPPER in 2022, this time with Galaxy providing the infrastructure behind it.
- Disclaimer: Bank Leumi’s digital-asset trading service is planned for early 2027 but remains subject to approval from the Bank of Israel. Supported assets, launch timing and service conditions may change before release. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
