Israel's Bank Leumi will offer direct digital asset trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana to its 2.5 million-plus clients by early 2027 through a partnership with Galaxy Digital, pending approval from the Bank of Israel. The bank becomes the first Israeli lender to provide native crypto trading services.
Bank Leumi, Israel's largest bank by assets, will integrate Galaxy's trading infrastructure into its platform rather than route clients to an external exchange. The arrangement requires regulatory clearance from Israel's central bank, which has not yet approved the partnership. Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency merchant bank and trading firm, will handle execution and settlement of trades.
The partnership announcement marks the first time a licensed Israeli bank has applied to offer spot trading in digital assets directly to retail clients. Israeli banks have historically steered clear of crypto services due to regulatory uncertainty and compliance complexity. The Bank of Israel has maintained strict capital and operational standards for any bank entering the sector, requiring dedicated risk management and customer protection protocols.
Galaxy Digital operates a $5 billion balance sheet and has brokered crypto trades for institutional clients across North America and Europe. Galaxy has sought to expand into banking partnerships as traditional financial institutions grow more open to digital assets. A Galaxy spokesperson declined to comment on the timeline for regulatory approval.
Bank Leumi serves roughly 1.7 million individual customers and approximately 100,000 small business clients across Israel. Banks in Switzerland, Singapore and the United States began embedding crypto services directly into consumer banking products in 2024 and 2025 rather than maintaining them as separate offerings.
The Bank of Israel's approval process typically takes six to nine months for novel financial products. If the regulator green-lights the partnership by late 2026, Bank Leumi would have weeks to build out compliance infrastructure and customer onboarding systems before the early 2027 launch window. The bank has not disclosed how many of its client base it expects to activate for crypto trading.
Bank Leumi's move succeeds where other Israeli banks have not attempted. Mizrahi Tefahot, Israel's second-largest lender, explored crypto custody services in 2023 but did not pursue retail trading. If the Bank of Israel approves this partnership, other Israeli banks may follow and the regulator's stance on direct custodial and trading services within the traditional banking system may shift. The number that decides it is whether the Bank of Israel issues written approval by December 2026.
