Israeli Supreme Court orders Bank Leumi to accept cryptocurrency transactions

The Supreme Court in Israel has forbidden Leumi bank from halting cryptocurrency transactions involving Gold Bitcoin exchange. This move is a huge step forward for the cryptocurrency industry in Israel. The temporary injunction is set to be precedent for many cryptocurrency businesses fighting to get financial services from banks.

The Bits of Gold exchange has since its inception in 2014 banked with Bank Leumi. The exchange received its license as a currency changer. The largest bank in Israel then decided to shut down its account because of dealing in Bitcoin in 2015 in spite of the excellent conduct Bits of Gold has been observing.

Bits of Gold had for several years operated on an injunction giving it the mandate to continue operations up until the time the final verdict will be made. Not so long ago, the District Court then gave the bank a direct order to stop Bits of Gold from trading in Bitcoin. The bank immediately moved to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Consequently, the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction giving direction for the Bank Leumi to allow the cryptocurrency exchange to continue its account activities up to the time a ruling will be made.

In the injunction, the Supreme Court said, “It appears that the damages that the bank might incur are mere speculations for now. The decision of the bank is based on the assumption that the company’s activity indeed carries risks that arise in violation of the provisions of the law, and therefore the bank is liable to pay a price for the materialization of those risks. However, until now, for more than five years in which the account has been operating, these fears have not materialized – as the District Court has determined that the company acted transparently and did not violate any statutory provision.”

The CEO of Bits of Gold, Yuval Roash said, “The court’s decision enables us to focus on continuing to establish the crypto community in Israel, and we will continue to lead the field in order to give digital coins the place which they deserve in the Israeli economy – as a tremendous growth engine for hi-tech and the financial industry.”

The bank later responded to the statement by the CEO saying “The bank respects the decision of the court. However, as long as orderly regulatory directives do not regulate the matter, the bank’s exposure to the client’s activity in bitcoin will be valid.”

At the moment, Bit of Gold exchange will continue to use their account with Bank Leumi. The court is, however, expected to give a verdict on the case in due time. Read more on the subject here.