Intesa Sanpaolo Doubles Crypto Holdings to $235M in Q1
Intesa Sanpaolo raised crypto holdings to $235 million in Q1 2026, expanding Bitcoin ETF positions, adding Ether via an iShares Staked Ethereum Trust and taking about $26 million in XRP.
Intesa Sanpaolo more than doubled its crypto exposure to about $235 million as of March 31, 2026, up from roughly $100 million at the end of 2025. The increase was driven by larger positions in Bitcoin ETFs and new stakes in Ether and XRP.
The bank increased holdings in the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and the iShares Bitcoin Trust. For the first time it took a position in Ether through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust and acquired an approximately $26 million stake in XRP via the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF.
Intesa opened a position in call options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust, its first documented use of derivatives linked to crypto exposure.
The bank previously confirmed its crypto assets are held for proprietary trading and did not disclose whether any holdings are used to hedge products offered to professional clients. Intesa used regulated ETFs and trusts rather than taking direct custody of tokens to gain exposure.
The lender cut its Solana exposure, reducing the position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF from 266,320 shares to 2,817 shares, effectively exiting that holding.
On the equities side, Intesa added 165,600 shares of custody firm BitGo, sold its Bitmine position, closed put options on Strategy, and trimmed its stake in Cantor Equity Partners II, the vehicle tied to tokenization firm Securitize’s planned listing. Its Coinbase shares rose from 1,500 to 10,357 during the quarter.
Ripple announced plans to provide custody services to Intesa last month.
Intesa’s shares closed at €5.74 on Friday, down about 1.6% on the day and roughly 3.1% year-to-date.
Several other European banks have expanded crypto services to retail and institutional clients. BBVA, BPCE and KBC have launched retail trading for Bitcoin and Ether. A consortium of banks including BNP Paribas, ING, UniCredit and Deutsche Bank is developing a MiCA-compliant euro-backed stablecoin aimed at a second-half 2026 launch.
The bank used ETFs, trusts and options to obtain regulated, tradable exposure to crypto while limiting direct custody of tokens.
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