- As its first foray into the cryptocurrency derivatives market, Intesa has established a fresh position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust call options.
- In contrast, the bank cut down on its Solana holdings, which were a major focus in the previous quarter.
With assets increasing from roughly $100 million at the end of 2025 to around $235 million as of March 31, Intesa Sanpaolo, the biggest bank in Italy, more than doubled its crypto exposure in the first quarter of 2026.
The bank increased its holdings in the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, both run by BlackRock, which contributed to the gain. According to a report by local crypto site Criptovaluta.it, it also made its first entry into Ethereum via BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust and acquired a new investment in Ripple’s XRP through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, with an estimated value of $26 million.
Banking on Crypto
As its first foray into the cryptocurrency derivatives market, Intesa has established a fresh position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust call options. As previously reported by Criptovaluta, the bank has verified. According to the article, the bank has said that its cryptocurrency holdings are for internal trading reasons alone, without specifying whether any of those assets are also used to hedge products provided to institutional customers.
In contrast, the bank cut down on its Solana holdings, which were a major focus in the previous quarter. It basically got out of the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF after cutting its holdings from 266,320 to 2,817 shares.
Several changes were made to the bank’s cryptocurrency stock holdings on the equity side. While selling off its Bitmine holdings, it first purchased 165,600 shares of BitGo. Additionally, the bank reduced its holding in Cantor Equity Partners II, the listing vehicle for tokenization business Securitize, and closed out its put options on Strategy. From 1,500 to 10,357, the number of Coinbase shares also rose.
This is all part of Intesa’s strategy to strengthen its position in the digital asset market. Ripple made the announcement last month that it will provide the Italian financial giant with custody services.
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