Bank Leumi Becomes First Israeli Bank to Offer Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana Trading

Bank Leumi, Israel's largest bank, has signed a partnership with Galaxy Digital that will let customers buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL) directly from their bank accounts, making it the first bank in Israel to offer regulated digital asset trading. The partnership was announced August 14 and targets an early 2027 launch.

Inside Leumi's Digital Asset Platform: GalaxyOne Institutional and Galaxy Custody Infrastructure

Trading will run through GalaxyOne Institutional, Galaxy's platform built for banks, asset managers, and institutional clients. Custody will be handled by Galaxy's Custody Infrastructure, formerly known as GK8. Both elements fall under a single agreement Leumi signed with Galaxy.

Customers will access the service through a dedicated secured section of the Leumi Trade capital markets application. PEPPER, Leumi's mobile-only banking arm, will offer the same access. The arrangement keeps the entire experience inside Leumi's existing app infrastructure rather than directing customers to a third-party exchange.

Galaxy Israel CEO Lior Lamesh said: "Leumi is the first bank in Israel to bring digital assets to its customers, and it chose Galaxy."

Israel's Regulatory Path From 2022 Rejection to Bank-Level Crypto Trading

The announcement follows years of regulatory friction in Israeli banking. An earlier Leumi effort to offer crypto services through Paxos in 2022 was blocked by the Bank of Israel. By mid-2026, Israeli banking supervisors had advanced draft rules treating transfers from licensed virtual asset service providers as lower risk, opening a compliance path for bank-level offerings.

More than 25% of Israelis have held or used digital assets in recent years, according to Bitcoin.com. Bank Hapoalim, Mizrahi-Tefahot, and Bank Discount had not publicly announced comparable retail crypto trading offerings as of mid-August 2026.

BTC, ETH, and SOL: the Three-Asset Standard for New Institutional Offerings

Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana together have become the default opening configuration for institutional-grade crypto products. When E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley launched spot crypto trading in July, it opened with the same three assets. Bank Leumi's partnership follows the same template, with SOL included alongside BTC and ETH.

Galaxy published its Q2 2026 research report on the Solana network in August, documenting seven consecutive quarters as the top decentralized exchange by volume and RWA balances on the chain crossing $3 billion. The Leumi deal takes Galaxy's institutional infrastructure into retail banking for the first time.