Israel’s largest bank is preparing to put cryptocurrency trading directly inside its banking app, offering customers a regulated on-ramp that sits inside the interface they already use for shares and deposits.
Bank Leumi said on Friday it will let customers of the bank and its mobile unit Pepper buy, hold, and sell bitcoin, ether, and solana through a dedicated section of the Leumi Trade capital-markets app, with the service expected to launch in early 2027 CoinDesk report. The bank described the planned launch as making it the first bank in Israel to offer digital-asset trading to customers, according to a joint announcement with Galaxy Digital PRNewswire release.
Galaxy Digital (Nasdaq: GLXY) will supply the trading and custody plumbing. The bank will use GalaxyOne Institutional, Galaxy’s platform built for banks and asset managers, and has signed an agreement to use Galaxy’s custody infrastructure formerly known as GK8 to support the offering PRNewswire release. Tucking trading inside an existing capital-markets app lets Leumi pitch a regulated banking interface as a steadier alternative to crypto-native exchanges.
Maya Ravia, Leumi’s head of strategy, said digital assets are “gradually becoming an integral part of the global financial system” and that the bank’s role is to let customers access that development “within a reliable, secure, and regulated banking framework” PRNewswire release. Lior Lamesh, CEO of Galaxy Israel, said the banks that move first “will define the era that follows” as finance shifts to “open, programmable rails” CoinDesk report.
The companies did not disclose commercial terms, fees, or customer eligibility requirements. The tie-up places Leumi among a growing group of traditional financial institutions bringing crypto access inside customer platforms rather than leaving it to specialist venues, a trend we tracked when Israel’s largest bank first signaled plans to offer bitcoin trading in 2027 zBrandco.
