Bank Leumi to Offer Cryptocurrency Trading to Customers Starting 2027

Bank Leumi announced a partnership with the US-based Galaxy Digital, which owns the Israeli custody company GK8, to become the first Israeli bank to offer cryptocurrency trading services to its customers. Starting early 2027, pending approval from the Bank of Israel, clients of Bank Leumi and its subsidiary Bank Pepper will be able to buy, hold, and sell selected digital assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through a secure section of the bank's capital market app, Leumi Trade.

Galaxy Digital, headquartered in New York and publicly traded on NASDAQ, specializes in digital assets and data center infrastructure, providing services such as trading, advisory, asset management, staking, custody, and tokenization to financial institutions. The company strengthened its Israeli ties in 2023 by acquiring GK8, a custody technology firm founded in 2018 by Lior Lamesh and Shahar Shamai, which operates a development center in Ramat Gan. GK8 was previously purchased by the crypto firm Celsius before its bankruptcy.

Bank Leumi recently reported its highest quarterly profit ever for an Israeli bank, totaling 2.83 billion shekels. The move into cryptocurrency trading follows the growing interest in digital assets despite Bitcoin’s 27% decline since the start of the year, currently trading around $63,000. While mutual funds tracking Bitcoin prices have been available on the stock exchange for over a year, direct ownership and trading through a bank platform will be a new offering in Israel.