TLDR
- Bank Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, will offer Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana trading through its Leumi Trade app
- The service launches in early 2027 for Leumi and Pepper mobile banking customers
- Galaxy Digital will provide trading infrastructure via GalaxyOne Institutional
- Galaxy’s custody platform, formerly known as GK8, will handle digital asset security
- This will make Leumi the first Israeli bank to offer crypto trading to retail customers
Bank Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, has announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital to offer cryptocurrency trading to its customers. The service is expected to go live in early 2027.
LATEST: 🇮🇱 Bank Leumi, Israel's largest bank, is partnering with Galaxy to let customers trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana via its Leumi Trade app starting early 2027. pic.twitter.com/PiHu8aFFuZ
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) August 15, 2026
Customers of Leumi and its mobile banking arm, Pepper, will be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. Trading will take place through a dedicated section of the Leumi Trade app.
Galaxy Digital will supply the trading infrastructure through its GalaxyOne Institutional platform. Galaxy’s custody infrastructure, formerly called GK8, will manage the security side of the bank’s digital asset operations.
Leumi says it serves millions of customers across retail and business banking. The bank says this will make it the first Israeli bank to offer digital asset trading directly to customers.
Why These Three Cryptocurrencies
The choice of assets reflects current institutional demand. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. Solana has seen growing interest from institutional players.
Galaxy already has infrastructure built around Solana. It acts as a staking provider for digital asset products tied to the network.
GalaxyOne Institutional brings together trading, custody, staking, financing and research in one platform. The setup is designed to give bank customers crypto access with banking-level security controls.
Galaxy’s Broader Push Into Institutional Banking
The Leumi deal fits into a wider strategy from Galaxy Digital. The firm has been building out its institutional banking partnerships across multiple markets.
Galaxy and BNY recently expanded their partnership to add institutional staking to BNY’s digital asset platform. This allows clients to hold and stake assets in a single workflow.
In July, Galaxy secured a naming rights deal with Texas Tech University, becoming the athletics department’s official data center and digital assets partner.
Galaxy Digital began trading on the Nasdaq in May 2025 under the ticker GLXY. Shares were trading at $21.38 on Friday, up around 2% on the day but down roughly 25% over the past year.
The company posted an $85 million net loss in the second quarter, which it linked to lower digital asset prices. Despite this, its digital assets business brought in $66 million in adjusted gross profit, up 34% from the previous quarter.
Galaxy was founded and is led by Mike Novogratz. The firm has continued to expand its institutional reach even as its share price has pulled back.
The Leumi partnership adds another major banking client to Galaxy’s growing list of institutional relationships. The service is on track to launch in early 2027, pending final setup of the trading and custody infrastructure.
