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- Intesa Sanpaolo more than doubled its crypto exposure from $100M to $235M in the first quarter of 2026.
- The bank entered Ethereum for the first time via BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust with 3.1M shares.
- A new XRP position through Grayscale XRP Trust held 712,319 shares, valued at around $18M on March 31.
- Solana holdings collapsed from 266,320 shares to just 2,817, while Bitcoin and Coinbase positions grew notably.
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, has sharply increased its cryptocurrency exposure in Q1 2026. The bank’s crypto-related assets grew from roughly $100 million in Q4 2025 to around $235 million by March 31.
New positions in Ethereum and XRP drove much of this growth. The bank also expanded its Bitcoin holdings through multiple ETFs during the same period.
New Crypto Positions Mark a Shift in Strategy
The bank entered the Ethereum market for the first time through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust. It acquired 3,147,918 shares in this ETF, which also offers staking rewards. This move marked a notable addition to its existing digital asset portfolio.
Intesa Sanpaolo also established a new position in XRP via the Grayscale XRP Trust. The bank held 712,319 shares, valued at approximately $18 million as of March 31. At current values, that position has grown to around $26 million.
When reached by Criptovaluta.it, the bank confirmed that these are “detentions for proprietary trading purposes,” without offering further details.
This was consistent with statements the bank had made in prior quarters regarding its digital asset activity.
Meanwhile, the bank increased its Bitcoin exposure through the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
Share counts in both funds rose compared to the prior quarter. The bank also added call options on the iShares BTC ETF for the first time.
Solana Reduced While Equity Holdings Shift
Intesa Sanpaolo made a sharp cut to its Solana exposure during the quarter. Its holdings in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF dropped from 266,320 shares to just 2,817. This reduction stands out against the broader increase in crypto assets.
On April 15, Ripple announced it had offered custody services to Intesa Sanpaolo. The timing followed closely after the bank’s XRP position became public.
As Ripple stated in its announcement, it had extended “its custody services to Intesa Sanpaolo,” adding a layer of infrastructure to the bank’s growing XRP exposure.
On the equities side, the bank added a new position in BitGo, holding 165,600 shares. At the same time, it closed its holdings in Bitmine and reduced its stake in Cantor Equity Partners II. The bank also closed its put options on Strategy entirely.
Coinbase shares increased from 1,500 to 10,357, showing a stronger bet on crypto infrastructure stocks. Positions in BTCS and Ethzilla remained unchanged from the previous quarter.
As early as January 13, 2025, the bank had confirmed to Criptovaluta.it “the purchase of 11 Bitcoins,” valued at approximately one million euros at the time, signaling that this crypto push has been building for over a year.
