According to a report by Reuters, Israel’s oldest bank could become the first banking corporation to offer cryptocurrency trading services in the country.
The number of significant banking institutions investing in digital assets continues to rise, with Bank Leumi being the most recent example. Paxos, a blockchain enterprise, has teamed with the organization to provide Bitcoin and Ethereum trading services.
More specifically, the bank intends to allow its customers to buy, hold, and sell bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) — the two major virtual assets by market capitalization. A minimum transaction cost of 50 shekels (about $15) would be expected.
Bank Leumi awaits regulatory authorization from the country’s central bank and the Tax Authority, thus there is no official debut date yet. If approved, the cryptocurrency services will be available through Pepper, the bank’s online program that allows consumers to invest in a variety of asset classes.
Furthermore, Bank Leumi seeks to make the tax collection procedure smoother.
When consumers sell and convert digital assets back to shekels, it will withhold taxes in compliance with the Tax Authority’s regulations.
Photo by Shai Pal
