Israel's largest bank greenlights Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading

The Israeli bank Leumi is preparing a new step in services related to digital assets. With Galaxy Digital, it will allow its customers to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ether and Solana from its app. The service is set to start in 2027, in a Leumi Trade section. Pepper, Leumi’s mobile subsidiary, will participate in the setup. The project thus marks the announced arrival of an Israeli bank on the crypto trading market.

Leumi readies crypto trading across three digital assets

Leumi and Galaxy Digital announced that customers will be able to access three assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL). They will be able to perform their operations from a section integrated into the Leumi Trade application. The offer will cover the purchase, holding and sale of cryptocurrencies, starting early 2027. Leumi thus becomes the first Israeli bank to offer this digital asset trading.

In their press release published Friday, Leumi indicated that it will use GalaxyOne Institutional for trading operations. Galaxy will provide its digital asset custody infrastructure, derived from the platform formerly known as GK8. The setup thus aims to combine order execution, custody and banking access in a single environment. Trading will be based on this infrastructure.

A partnership that expands the bank’s digital asset services

Maya Ravia, Chief Strategy Officer at Leumi, regards digital assets as a growing component of the global financial system. She believes this initiative will offer our clients simple, secure and regulated access to digital asset trading.

We are working tirelessly to expand the range of advanced financial services that the bank offers its customers. This initiative constitutes a key pillar of our innovation strategy and allows us to offer our clients simple, secure and regulated access to digital asset trading which is gradually integrating into the global financial system.

Maya Ravia, Chief Strategy Officer at Leumi

On his side, Lior Lamesh, CEO of Galaxy Israel, believes pioneering banks will participate in the evolution towards an open and programmable financial infrastructure.

The future of finance will rest on open and programmable infrastructures, and we are convinced that pioneer banks will shape the coming era.

Lior Lamesh, CEO of Galaxy Israel

The partnership is therefore part of a desire to integrate cryptocurrencies into existing banking services. Crypto trading thus joins the offered services. For clients, trading will go through their bank’s investment platform.

However, the project comes after a difficult quarter for Galaxy Digital. The company announced a net loss of 85 million dollars in the second quarter, mainly linked to the decline in digital assets. Despite this result, its crypto activity generated an adjusted gross profit of 66 million dollars, up 34% over a quarter. Galaxy Digital, led by Mike Novogratz, has been listed on Nasdaq since May 2025 under the symbol GLXY.

Leumi and Galaxy team up to write the next chapter for digital assets

The planned launch in early 2027 will give a new dimension to services offered by Leumi. Clients will be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ether and Solana from the bank’s investment platform. Galaxy Digital will provide the necessary infrastructure for operations and custody of assets. This integration will thus gather several functions related to cryptocurrencies in a single banking environment.

Until then, the two partners will still need to specify access modalities, fees, limits and required authorizations. Compliance with banking requirements also represents an important step before the service opens. These elements will concretely define how this new offer will work for Leumi and Pepper clients. The next step will notably depend on the regulatory progress of the project.

This development will finally give a first indication of the place that digital assets can occupy in Israeli banking services. Leumi serves millions of customers through its retail and commercial activities, giving the project significant scope. The launch will thus allow observing the reception reserved for this new functionality and its integration into existing services