Italy’s Biggest Bank Doubles Down on Crypto With $235M ETF Bet

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest financial institution, greater than doubled its crypto-linked portfolio within the first quarter of 2026, lifting publicity to about US$235 million (AU$324 million) by means of Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP funding merchandise.

The transfer expands the banking group’s digital asset publicity from roughly US$100 million (AU$140 million) on the finish of 2025, in response to an area report.

The portfolio confirmed US$95.9 million (AU$132 million) tied to iShares Bitcoin Belief name choices and US$81.2 million (AU$112 million) in ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF shares. The ARKB place was listed at 3,607,565 shares in portfolio summaries.

Learn extra: JPMorgan Brings Wall Street to Ethereum With New Tokenised Treasury Fund

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The financial institution additionally opened a place in name choices on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief, marking its first reported crypto derivatives place. Intesa beforehand informed Criptovaluta.it that its crypto holdings are used for proprietary buying and selling, although it has not mentioned whether or not any positions are additionally used to hedge merchandise provided to skilled shoppers.

The financial institution sharply decreased its Solana publicity. Its place within the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF fell from 266,320 shares to 2,817 shares, amounting to a near-total exit.

Intesa additionally added Ethereum publicity by means of BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Belief and established a brand new XRP-linked place by means of the Grayscale XRP Belief.

The financial institution’s XRP stake was round 712,319 Grayscale XRP Belief shares, initially valued close to US$26 million (AU$35.9 million).

That makes the place smaller than the financial institution’s Bitcoin publicity however notable as a result of it extends the portfolio past the 2 largest crypto property.

It’s price noting that the financial institution additionally modified its crypto-related inventory holdings. It purchased 165,600 shares of BitGo for the primary time and exited its Bitmine place. It closed put choices on Technique, trimmed its stake in Cantor Fairness Companions II, the automobile linked to tokenisation agency Securitize’s deliberate itemizing, and elevated its Coinbase shares from 1,500 to 10,357.

Associated: Ethereum Pushes Clear Signing to Combat Costly Crypto Scams

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