Israel’s biggest bank, Leumi, which was established as far back as 1902, will become the first Israeli bank to provide cryptocurrency trading.
The bank’s digital platform Pepper Invest announced the news on March 24, following a partnership with U.S. blockchain startup Paxos, Reuters reports.
For the time being, only Bitcoin and Ethereum will be available to Pepper Invest clients to buy, hold, and sell and totaling at least 50 shekels or the equivalent of $15.49 at the time of publication.
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According to the statement, regulatory permission is still waiting, hence no launch date has been set, however, it did state:
“Pepper will collect tax according to the guidelines of the Israeli Tax Authority so that customers will not need to manage tax complexities.”
Additionally, it revealed that the service would remove the hazards associated with downloading a digital cryptocurrency wallet.
Trade crypto at competitive pricing
With Pepper, users will be able to trade cryptocurrencies at a competitive price, making it the first banking platform in Israel – and one of the few in the world – that offers this service. While customers of Bank Leumi be able to use the services in the near future as well
The purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies will be available to consumers via their Pepper Invest trading account, which will be accessible with a single button click.
Pepper will collect tax in accordance with the requirements of the Israeli Tax Authority during the sale transaction and subsequent conversion back into NIS in the current account, allowing clients to avoid having to deal with tax issues themselves.
When compared to the existing obstacles in converting crypto into readily accessible funds in a current account using the instruments already available, the straightforward sale represents a considerable advancement in technology.
