Israel’s biggest bank, Bank Leumi, will become the first lender in the country to offer customers Bitcoin trading, according to a Friday announcement.
The lender will work with Galaxy Digital to provide the service, which will become available to customers early next year, the announcement said.
Bank Leumi first announced plans to debut crypto trading in 2022 but shelved the initiative. The latest project will use GalaxyOne Institutional, Galaxy’s institutional platform for banks, asset managers and other institutions for trading and other services, to debut the service.
“We believe that digital assets are gradually becoming an integral part of the global financial system, and it is our role to enable customers to benefit from this development within a reliable, secure, and regulated banking framework,” Bank Leumi’s Head of Strategy, Maya Ravia, said in a statement.
The statement added that customers will also be able to trade other cryptocurrencies on top of Bitcoin. Leumi’s mobile banking app, PEPPER, will also provide the service.
“The future of finance will run on open, programmable rails, and we believe the banks that move first will define the era that follows,” Galaxy Israel CEO Lior Lamesh said.
“We are building one platform for trading and custody, with institutional-grade security at its core, and the onchain rails beneath it, through Galaxy Infrastructure and GalaxyOne Institutional, for banks around the world.”
According to Chainalysis, crypto adoption in Israel has been steadily growing over the years, with geopolitical headwinds including the war in Gaza and Iran, leading Israelis to digital assets as a “safe-haven.”