Israel Discount Bank, the country's fourth-largest lender, is preparing to place Bitcoin inside the same mobile app its customers use to check balances and pay rent. Beginning November 26, 2026, eligible clients will be able to buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly through the bank's app, with Fireblocks supplying the custody infrastructure behind the scenes. For a sector that has kept digital assets at arm's length for years, the move marks a notable shift in posture.

The bank announced the service on November 11, 2026. According to the research findings reported by Crypto Briefing, it is the first time an Israeli bank has offered direct in-app trading of digital assets.

What customers actually get

Customers will no longer need a separate exchange login or a hardware wallet stored in a drawer. That convenience comes from Fireblocks, which provides the digital asset infrastructure and wallet custody. Because Fireblocks holds the keys on the bank's behalf, customers do not need external crypto wallets of their own. The arrangement keeps trading and safekeeping inside a single banking relationship rather than split across a separate exchange and a self-managed wallet.

The initial menu is short: only Bitcoin and Ethereum are supported at launch, keeping the offering to the two largest and most familiar digital assets. Eligibility is also defined — the service targets private customers aged 18 and older who hold securities-enabled accounts.

The tax feature may be the real headline

Discount Bank's service will let clients offset capital gains and losses from their digital asset trades against other investments in their portfolios. Those tax adjustments are handled through deduction at source. In practice, that folds digital asset trading into the same tax accounting as the rest of a customer's portfolio rather than treating it as a separate stream of transactions.

The bank is also sweetening the launch. Customers receive a six-month waiver on account management fees, and trading commissions are reported at 2% per trade.

The race to be Israel's crypto bank

Discount Bank is not alone in eyeing this market; it is simply first through the door. Bank Leumi is expected to launch a similar service in early 2027 through its Pepper app, giving Discount Bank a head start measured in weeks to months rather than years. If Leumi's rollout arrives as expected, it would give Israeli retail customers their first side-by-side comparison of two domestic banks' digital asset offerings — pricing, asset menus, and custody models included. The research findings frame Discount Bank's move as a response to rising demand and an effort to challenge unregulated platforms.

What this means

For Fireblocks, the deal is another example of the custody firm acting as the quiet infrastructure layer behind traditional finance's crypto ambitions. Banks generally prefer not to build key management from scratch, and outsourcing it allows them to move faster.

The trade-offs remain visible. Customers using bank custody will not hold their own keys, the asset menu is limited to two coins for now, and the reported 2% commission may weigh more heavily as trading volumes grow and the promotional fee waiver expires after six months. Those constraints double as the concrete details to watch as the rollout matures: whether the asset menu widens beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, and what the pricing looks like once the waiver period ends.