Israel’s Discount Bank says that from November 26 its individual customers will be able to buy, hold and sell bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) directly in the bank’s app. According to the bank, customers will not need to open a separate digital wallet or a foreign exchange account. The details were reported by the Chinese-language outlet PANews, which cited the bank’s website.
The bank describes the offering as the first of its kind in the Israeli banking sector. That is the bank’s own claim, and it has not been independently checked in the material available.
Who can use it and what it costs
According to Discount Bank, the service is open only to Israeli residents aged 18 or over who hold a securities account. This limits access to existing, eligible clients of the bank rather than to the wider public.
The bank states that each trade carries a fee of 2% of the transaction value. Custody is free for the first six months after launch, after which a charge of 0.25% per quarter applies, the bank says.
Custody by Fireblocks
Discount Bank says the digital assets will be held using infrastructure provided by Fireblocks, a company that supplies custody technology. The bank’s statement, as relayed by PANews, does not go into further detail on how the arrangement is structured.
What is not yet known
The report leaves several questions open. It is unclear whether Fireblocks or the Bank of Israel has commented on the launch, and no information is given on any regulatory approvals or conditions attached to the service. It is also not stated whether other cryptocurrencies will be added later, or whether the 2% fee applies to both purchases and sales.
The account rests on a single source relaying the bank’s own disclosure, so the terms could change before or after the planned launch date.
Sources
- panewslab.com PANews — 以色列贴现银行11月26日起开放App内比特币和以太坊交易 Accessed
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