Headline: Bank Leumi to offer Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading via Galaxy — inside its Leumi Trade app by early 2027 Israel’s largest bank announced a landmark crypto push on Aug. 14, partnering with New York–based Galaxy to let customers buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ether and Solana from within the bank’s existing capital markets app. The service—planned for early 2027—will be available to both Bank Leumi and its mobile arm, PEPPER, and will run from a dedicated, secured section inside the Leumi Trade app. What’s being offered - Initial assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). - Functionality: direct buy/hold/sell inside the bank app (no separate exchange or self-custody wallet required). - Audience: retail customers of Leumi and PEPPER. - Timeline: expected launch in early 2027. Who’s providing what - GalaxyOne Institutional will power the trading and related services. - Galaxy’s Custody Infrastructure (the platform built from GK8, which Galaxy acquired from Celsius in 2023) will support custody operations. - Bank Leumi will embed these services into its existing capital-markets interface so customers can manage digital assets alongside other investments within a regulated banking environment. Leadership on record - Maya Ravia, Bank Leumi’s head of strategy, framed the move as expanding “simple, secure and regulated” access to digital assets and enabling customers to benefit from the growing role of digital assets in global finance. - Lior Lamesh, CEO of Galaxy Israel, described the deal as building an integrated trading-and-custody rail for banks and positioned Leumi as the first Israeli bank to offer direct digital-asset trading to customers. Key unknowns - The announcement did not disclose trading fees, minimum purchase amounts, custody model specifics (segregated wallets or otherwise), withdrawal mechanics, whether staking will be supported for ETH or SOL, or how the rollout will be phased. Galaxy and Leumi also didn’t reveal the financial terms or duration of the agreements. How this fits into Galaxy’s 2026 activity - The Leumi deal extends Galaxy’s trend of supplying crypto infrastructure to established financial institutions in 2026. Recent examples include: - A partnership with BNY to add Galaxy’s staking infrastructure to BNY’s Digital Asset Custody platform (institutional staking services). - A Morgan Stanley referral arrangement for eligible wealth clients, enabling $5 million+ digital-asset lending to Galaxy and faster access to spot crypto investment products. - Galaxy operates publicly (Nasdaq: GLXY) and has been expanding regulated services: in May its GalaxyOne Prime NY unit secured a BitLicense and Money Transmission License from New York regulators. At that time Galaxy said its platform managed roughly $9 billion in client assets and ran more than 50 regulatory licenses worldwide. Why it matters - If executed as described, Leumi will be the first Israeli bank to embed direct crypto trading inside a retail banking app, which could accelerate mainstream access to digital assets in Israel via a regulated channel rather than third‑party exchanges or self‑custody. - The arrangement also highlights how banks are increasingly outsourcing technology stacks (trading and custody) to specialist crypto infrastructure providers instead of building end-to-end systems internally. Background on Leumi - Bank Leumi is a more-than-120-year-old institution without a controlling shareholder and serves millions of households, SMEs and corporate clients through branches and digital channels. What to watch next - Detailed product terms (fees, minimums), custody and withdrawal mechanics, whether staking or additional assets will be added, and the exact rollout plan leading up to the early‑2027 launch. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news