Israel Discount Bank revealed on Wednesday that starting November 26, qualified clients will be permitted to purchase, retain, and liquidate bitcoin and ether through the mobile banking application, an introduction that would outpace larger competitor Bank Leumi if schedules hold.
The institution, which is listed in Tel Aviv, characterized this feature as a pioneering milestone for the domestic banking sector within a November 11 announcement. Users will have the ability to trade these two cryptocurrencies alongside equities and fixed-income securities, avoiding the requirement to register with an external exchange or maintain an independent digital wallet.
This offering restricts participation to individual account holders rather than corporate entities, requiring them to be Israeli residents aged 18 or older with accounts already configured for securities transactions, subject to the institution’s guidelines.
“For the first time in the banking system, Discount Bank will allow trading in digital currencies directly from the bank account in a simple and secure manner, without the need for complex dedicated digital wallets,” remarked Avi Levi, Chief Executive Officer of Discount Group, in the published release. “This is a first step toward establishing advanced technological infrastructure in the digital currency space and developing the bank’s capabilities in this area.”
Elad Fisher, who directs the financial markets division at the bank, spearheaded the deployment. Coins will be stored within bank-administered wallets powered by infrastructure supplied by Fireblocks.
JUST IN: 🇮🇱 $150 billion Israel Discount Bank will become the 1st bank in Israel to let customers buy, hold and sell Bitcoin 👀
Adoption! 👏 pic.twitter.com/gwKBy17cSf
A 2% commission and a wallet that does not leave the bank
The product page provided by the institution outlines a 2% fee on app-based buying and selling transactions, excluding any applicable foreign exchange conversion charges. Custody expenses are waived during the initial six months following the November 26 debut, after which they shift to 0.25% per quarter. Trading availability runs from Sunday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. local time, restricting transactions to immediate orders only. Clients are permitted to acquire fractions as small as 0.01 of a token. Balances immediately reflect within the investment portfolio, while cash settlements occur on the subsequent business day in U.S. dollars; conversion to shekels takes place exclusively upon client request.
At present, this service operates as a closed ecosystem. Digital assets acquired through Discount cannot be dispatched to external wallets, nor can tokens maintained elsewhere be deposited. The organization indicated it might reevaluate transfer capabilities subsequently. Furthermore, it cautions regarding extraordinary risk, elevated volatility, and the potential for total capital loss, emphasizing that these assets are not legal tender and lack the safeguards associated with standard securities.
Beyond sheer convenience, the value proposition offered by Discount centers on tax administration. Capital gains and losses stemming from these assets can be automatically balanced against the remainder of a client’s investment holdings for source-withheld taxation, according to the bank, applying a 25% profit levy. Liquidation proceeds deposit directly into the consumer’s banking account, bypassing the rigorous origin-of-funds inquiries typically encountered when transferring capital back from cryptocurrency exchanges.
Leumi announced first, but is aiming for 2027
Discount is not the initial Israeli financial institution to pledge digital asset trading capabilities. Bank Leumi, representing the nation’s premier lender, disclosed intentions back in March 2022 to deliver bitcoin and ether trading via Pepper Invest alongside Paxos, an initiative that failed to achieve full commercial realization. Throughout August, Leumi alongside Galaxy Digital (GLXY) indicated that Leumi and Pepper clients would gain the capacity to acquire, hold, and liquidate bitcoin, ether, and Solana inside the Leumi Trade interface, targeting a rollout projected for early 2027.
That prior communication positioned Leumi as the pioneer financial entity in Israel to deliver such functionality. Should Discount launch operations on November 26, it will secure the first-mover status, although Leumi maintains plans to incorporate Solana, an asset omitted from Discount’s initial phase. Discount noted it could contemplate integrating additional digital assets later.
Within an official circular dated October 7, the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Israel modified Directive 411 to establish that financial institutions cannot decline payment processing simply because funds originate from virtual currency operations, a revision slated for implementation on May 1, 2027. This adjustment does not grant institutions the authority to vend cryptocurrency products, yet it forms part of a wider initiative, initially introduced via a July draft, designed to broaden how banks process cryptocurrency-connected transactions.
The immediate test involves whether Discount successfully meets the November 26 deadline, and whether users embrace a restricted wallet structure accompanied by a 2% fee in exchange for institutional custody and automated tax withholding. Leumi still possesses the early 2027 window to bridge the gap.
Originally published at https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/discount-bank-bitcoin-trading-nov-26.
