Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Reduces IBIT Holdings by 94% While Tripling Staked ETH ETF Position

Italy's largest financial group, Intesa Sanpaolo, revealed a significant reorganization of its cryptocurrency-related positions in its latest Form 13F submitted to the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) for the second quarter of 2026 (as of the end of June).

The bank reduced its holdings in the BlackRock-managed spot Bitcoin ETF "iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)" from 646,809 shares at the end of the previous quarter to 40,723 shares, a decrease of approximately 93.7%. Additionally, it eliminated 99% of its call options while establishing new put options worth 500,000 shares. During the same period, the cryptocurrency market generally softened, with the price of BTC dropping by 14%, leading to an outflow of approximately $4.89 billion (around ¥771.35 billion) from the entire U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market.

In contrast, the bank significantly increased its holdings in the "iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB)" from 116,200 shares to 349,600 shares, expanding its valuation to approximately $7.1 million (about three times).

The sharp decline in IBIT and the addition of put options may initially appear to indicate a strong bearish stance; however, the bank has not completely exited Bitcoin investments.

Due to the existence of hedge trades not listed in Form 13F and the fact that sale options (writing) are not disclosed, it is difficult to definitively ascertain the net effective exposure.

In fact, the bank continues to hold 3.47 million shares (valued at approximately $67.6 million) of the "ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB)", which represents a slight decrease of about 3.7% compared to the previous quarter. ARKB remains the largest cryptocurrency ETF position for Intesa, suggesting that the bank is scrutinizing and reallocating its Bitcoin-related holdings.

Additionally, in other stocks, it maintained 712,319 shares of the "Grayscale XRP Trust ETF (GXRP)" while reducing its holdings in the "Bitwise Solana Staking ETF" to nearly zero (7 shares).

Although the price of ETH also fell by 25% during the same quarter, Intesa increased its purchases of "ETHB" during the price decline.

This fund is designed not only to track price movements but also to generate income gains through staking a portion of its assets, indicating a focus on income generation during a downturn and securing medium- to long-term yields. This investment behavior aligns with the trend observed among some of BlackRock's clientele of "selling Bitcoin and buying Ethereum".

Moreover, the investment trends in individual stocks and other products related to cryptocurrencies are also changing.

- Cryptocurrency-related stocks: The bank doubled its holdings in BitGo Holdings (BTGO) to 323,000 shares, while reducing its stake in Coinbase (COIN) by 32% and in Robinhood (HOOD) by 43%, indicating a consolidation among infrastructure-related stocks. - New large positions: It newly acquired 5.66 million shares of SpaceX (SPCX), which holds approximately $1.18 billion (around ¥186.1 billion) worth of BTC, making this the largest single stock holding in the bank's Form 13F.

Intesa's cryptocurrency investment, which started with the direct purchase of 11 BTC (approximately ¥190 million) in January 2025 as an "experiment", has evolved into a diversified portfolio management covering spot ETFs, derivatives, staking products, and related stocks, backed by a massive balance sheet of approximately €992.6 billion (around ¥180 trillion).

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