Italy’s Largest Bank Boosts Staked Ether ETF Bet, Slashes Bitcoin Fund Position

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s biggest banking group, made a major shift in its crypto linked holdings during the second quarter, tripling its exposure to a staked Ether fund while sharply cutting back on one of its Bitcoin ETF positions.

Staked Ether Holdings Jump

The bank held 349,600 shares of an iShares staked Ethereum ETF worth $7.1 million as of June 30, according to a filing with US securities regulators. That marks a sharp rise from 116,200 shares worth $3.15 million just three months earlier at the end of March.

Bitcoin Fund Positions Move In Different Directions

Intesa kept 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, worth $67.6 million, making it the bank’s largest crypto-related holding overall, though the share count dipped about 4% from the prior quarter. At the same time, the bank slashed its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF position dramatically, dropping to just over 40,000 shares from nearly 647,000 shares previously, a cut of roughly 94%.

Other Crypto-Linked Bets

The bank left its Grayscale XRP Trust ETF holding untouched at over 712,000 shares, nearly doubled its stake in custody firm BitGo to 323,000 shares, and trimmed its Coinbase stock position down to 7,000 shares. Crypto ETFs allow banks like Intesa to gain exposure to digital assets through regulated securities without directly handling custody or compliance requirements tied to holding the coins themselves.