{"id":5140,"date":"2026-08-04T22:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/?p=5140"},"modified":"2026-08-04T22:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:47:09","slug":"italys-largest-bank-slashes-bitcoin-etf-stake-while-expanding-ethereum-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/italys-largest-bank-slashes-bitcoin-etf-stake-while-expanding-ethereum-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy\u2019s Largest Bank Slashes Bitcoin ETF Stake While Expanding Ethereum Exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Italy\u2019s biggest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, significantly reduced its investment in BlackRock\u2019s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) during the second quarter while substantially increasing its exposure to a staked Ethereum exchange traded fund, according to its latest Form 13F filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bitcoin ETF Position Shrinks as Ethereum Allocation Grows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The filing shows that Intesa Sanpaolo held 40,723 IBIT shares as of June 30, a sharp decline of nearly 94 percent from the 646,809 shares reported at the end of the first quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank also dramatically reduced its call options tied to the fund. The number of underlying shares linked to those contracts dropped from approximately 2.5 million to just 18,000, representing a decline of more than 99 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the filing disclosed a new put position equivalent to 500,000 IBIT shares. However, the reported positions do not necessarily indicate that the bank has adopted a bearish outlook on Bitcoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While reducing its Bitcoin related exposure, Intesa more than tripled its holdings in the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, increasing its position from 116,200 shares to 349,600.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its investment in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF moved in the opposite direction, falling from 2,817 shares to just seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long Term Digital Asset Strategy Remains Intact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest portfolio changes come more than a year after Intesa Sanpaolo made its first direct Bitcoin purchase. In January 2025, the bank acquired 11 BTC for roughly $1.03 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, in July 2024, it used the Polygon blockchain to issue Italy\u2019s first on chain digital bond valued at $25.6 million. Later that year, the bank expanded its digital asset offerings by introducing options, futures, and spot cryptocurrency exchange traded funds through a dedicated trading desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institutional Investors Shift Toward Ethereum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intesa\u2019s portfolio adjustments mirror a broader trend among some BlackRock clients. According to recent reports, investors sold around $60 million worth of IBIT shares last week while purchasing more than $20 million of BlackRock\u2019s ETHA spot Ethereum ETF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Intesa reducing its Bitcoin ETF holdings, the broader US spot Bitcoin ETF market has recently regained momentum. After recording approximately $4.5 billion in net outflows during June, the sector rebounded in July with $172.4 million in net inflows, helping support Bitcoin\u2019s recovery toward the $64,000 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The positive trend has continued into August, with spot Bitcoin ETFs attracting another $170 million in fresh inflows. BlackRock\u2019s IBIT remains the industry\u2019s largest Bitcoin ETF, having accumulated nearly $61 billion in total inflows since its launch.#crypto#cryptonews https:\/\/coinsignals.net<\/a> https:\/\/t.me\/coinsignalpublic<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Italy\u2019s biggest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, significantly reduced its investment in BlackRock\u2019s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) during the second quarter while substantially increasing its exposure to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5142,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5140\/revisions\/5142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.coinsignals.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}