Israel Discount Bank Bitcoin Trading Starts Nov 26 In Its App

The deadline that Israel Discount Bank has fixed for its customers to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether via the mobile app is November 26th. It was reported for the first time in the Israeli financial newspaper Globes on Wednesday, November 11th. The launch of such a plan from this bank would be ahead of Bank Leumi by a few months.

Globes' November 11 report on the Discount launch. Source: Globes, Discount Bank to offer cryptocurrency trading.

That's just two cryptocurrency coins. The customers are able to invest, hold and trade both Bitcoin and Ether along with stocks and bonds without requiring any external exchange accounts or separate crypto storage. Globes says the coins are held in custody by the bank itself. Fireblocks is a fintech company that provides custodial services to financial institutions.

Who is eligible then? Private clients aged 18 or above that have accounts set for trading of securities, as well as the requirements of the bank itself. The article was published on Globes at 11:28 hours by the hand of Tomer Padova. The ticker symbol of Israel Discount Bank in Tel Aviv is DSCT.

Why Israel Discount Bank bitcoin access matters at home

When you talk to an Israeli crypto investor about banking institutions, they will share with you a story. They will tell you that while the funds from the sale come back to them, they have to first provide proof of where those funds originated from, as per the news reported by Globes.

The solution presented by the Discount approach is becoming the platform itself. In other words, you sell through the platform, the money gets to your bank account directly and there is no need to use any foreign platform at all.

Another benefit provided by the bank is taxation. The profits and losses from the crypto trading can be balanced against other investment activities performed by the customer's portfolio with tax being deducted at source, claims the bank. Outside the platform, on the other hand, claims Globes, the investor has to interact with the Israel Tax Authority only.

What nobody's published yet: the fees

Short answer: very little indeed. Account management services are provided without any charge for the first six months, while the commissions charged on trades are said to be “low,” but this term really means nothing at all. As reported by Globes, the exact amount is not indicated in the bank's official statement. If you are an active trader, you will want that schedule.

Leumi has tried this before

As early as March 2022, Bank Leumi had revealed its intention of offering bitcoin and ether via the Pepper Invest platform powered by Paxos. This was never fully realized, but another attempt will be made this time using Galaxy Digital and including bitcoin, ether, and Solana at Leumi Trade app from early 2027.

Thus, if Israel Discount Bank maintains its schedule, it will go first. Prior to November 26, one needs to focus on three aspects. Will the securities account allow for trading? Under what conditions? How much will the commissions come to? There are no trades done at this time since this is merely the notification of the date and no trading advice.

Featured image: Discount Bank of Israel ATM in Tel Aviv by Chenspec, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.