Daily Observation of the Crypto Industry: Israel's National Bank Teams Up with Galaxy, Traditional Banking Accelerates Integration of Native Crypto Custody and Trading

1. Banking Giants Enter the Game: Mainstream Apps Directly Access BTC, ETH, and SOL

As one of the oldest and largest financial institutions in Israel, Bank Leumi's foray into cryptocurrency demonstrates a high level of business integration.

According to the cooperation agreement reached by both parties, Bank Leumi will establish a dedicated digital asset section within its core investment app, Leumi Trade, while also covering its digital banking platform PEPPER, designed for the younger generation. In the future, the bank's individual and institutional clients will be able to purchase, hold, and sell mainstream digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL), directly within a regulated bank-native interface without going through external exchanges. This service is expected to be officially opened to the public in early 2027 (pending final approval from the Bank of Israel).

2. Strong Partnership: Galaxy's Infrastructure and GK8's Custody Technology Fully Integrated

To build an absolutely secure firewall between traditional banking systems and decentralized networks, Bank Leumi has chosen Galaxy Digital, a top digital asset group on Wall Street, as its underlying technology and custody service provider.

In the specific system integration:

• Private Key and Asset Custody Isolation: The collaboration will fully adopt Galaxy Custody (formerly Israel's top cryptographic security agency GK8) professional solutions, which will be solely responsible for the offline security management of underlying private keys and assets;

• Independent Security Zone: All cryptocurrency transaction matching and asset transfers will operate in a closed-loop independent security sandbox area within the Leumi Trade app, ensuring that customers' fiat account funds and cryptocurrency exposure are double-isolated on compliance and technical levels.

3. Paradigm Shift: Traditional Commercial Banks Move from "Compliance Defense" to "Proactive Bridging"

This significant cross-industry move by Bank Leumi is a microcosm of the fundamental shift in the global traditional banking industry's attitude towards cryptocurrency assets in the second half of 2026.

In recent years, constrained by strict anti-money laundering regulations and ambiguous legal definitions, traditional commercial banks have generally adopted a "de-banking" strategy towards cryptocurrency assets. However, as compliance licensing frameworks gradually establish in major economies in Europe, America, and the Middle East, traditional banks realize that shutting out the cryptocurrency needs of high-net-worth clients and young investors will only accelerate the outflow of deposits to on-chain solutions. By collaborating with compliant institutions like Galaxy Digital that have mature custody capabilities, banks can not only capture cryptocurrency trading fee income but also lock on-chain funds back within their comprehensive balance sheets.

4. Sovereign-Level Financial Applications Become the Next Generation Web3 Gateway

Based on global industry dynamics in mid-August, the institutionalization of digital assets is entering the "bank-native era." From Sony Bank's preparation to issue a US dollar stablecoin to Bank Leumi's collaboration with Galaxy to create an embedded trading platform, traditional banks are rapidly transforming from "bystanders" of cryptocurrency assets to "infrastructure providers." When ordinary depositors can easily complete compliant cryptocurrency configurations with just a click in their everyday banking app, the Web3 industry will welcome a wave of traditional incremental capital that is larger in scale and more stable in funding.

Source: https://bbx.com/ Cryptocurrency Concept Stock Information Database, compiled based on global public company announcements and SEC/TSE disclosure documents from last weekend.