One of the biggest Israel creditors Bank Leumi announced crypto trading through its digital platform. How many similar crypto banks are there in the world?
Sceptics have been telling you this for years, remember?
Bitcoin isn’t supported by real assets. Crypto is a fraud instrument. Any digital asset is a Ponzi scheme. Crypto-bubble will explode soon.
Bitcoin is still alive, though, and it’s getting more legit than lots of other financial instruments these days.
Separate private financial and state institutions are legalizing it. Even whole countries are legalizing it.
Even the EU with its harsh economic legislation doesn’t want to restrict the crypto development.
Banks are the next step of the crypto evolution.
Imagine how wonderful would it be to use your existing bank account and a credit card your wife loves so much to buy and sell crypto. Or even better – to pay for something with crypto.
Israel has some good news for you (and your wife, obviuosly).
One of the biggest Israel banks have announced crypto trading a while ago. And some other banks all over the world are doing the same. Slowly, but any kind of movement is better than standing still, right?
First Bitcoin bank in Israel
Israel Bank Leumi announced it will start offering crypto trading through its digital platform Pepper Invest.
Crypto trading became possible due to the bank partnership with Paxos, a New York-based custody and trading platform.
Customers will be able to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin and Ether. The minimum transaction limit is 50 shekels ($15.5).
“Pepper will collect tax according to the guidelines of the Israeli Tax Authority so that customers will not need to manage tax complexities,” Leumi speaker said in the announcement.
No launch date is provided. Let’s be patient, I suppose.
It’s worth mentioning, that quite recently Bank Leumi was heavily criticized for blocking transactions by Bit of Gold, the largest online Bitcoin and Ether broker in Israel. But the Supreme Court of Israel stated Leumi Bank has no right to just block the crypto exchange account.
So as we can see, now regulators have shifted their efforts from blocking crypto to developing a regulatory framework to help it evolve.
Do banks accept crypto?
All right, so Israel is moving into a bright crypto future. What about the banks in the rest of the world?
Despite major international banks still being afraid of switching to crypto, some prominent institutions now tend to recognize digital assets.
The Bank of Canada is among them. Along with J. P. Morgan Bank of America it started testing its blockchain technology back in 2018.
And now most Canadian banks allow their customers to purchase and hold Bitcoin.
If you are lucky to be a Canadian you can do this with the Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank), and some others.
Crypto banks now emerge in other countries too.
For example, the US Simple Bank allows compiling exchange and wallet features in customers’ accounts.
Bitcoin transactions are allowed by Chime Bank (USA), Wirex (UK), Fidor Bank (Germany), Change (Estonia), Worldcore (Czech Republic) and some others.
What about crypto banks? Are those legit?
Apart from the traditional banks, there are crypto banks, which manage digital assets predominantly.
One of the most famous crypto banks is the Swiss SEBA. Last year the bank received a license from the Swiss Foreign Exchange Supervisory Authority FINMA.
Earlier SEBA Bank CEO Guido Buehler said his firm’s models see bitcoin rising to between $50 000 and $75 000 in 2022.
“I’m quite confident we are going to see that level. The question is always timing,” he said.
Buehler underlines that SEBA Bank looked at the technology that powers cryptocurrencies and that is going to “redefine finance.”
He invites the new customers to “try full advantage of digital assets without sacrificing security”.
Sounds good, huh?
Sources: Coindesk, Banks.com, CNBC
