Intesa Sanpaolo, the largest bank in Italy, has sharply increased its presence in the crypto market. By the end of the first quarter of 2026, the bank’s cryptocurrency assets grew to about $235 million compared to around $100 million at the end of last year.
In fact, the bank more than doubled its positions in just three months. Intesa focused mainly on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, while almost completely exiting Solana.
Bank Aggressively Increases Bets on Bitcoin
The main growth came specifically from Bitcoin instruments. Intesa significantly expanded its positions in ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust. Amid continued institutional interest in BTC, the bank is clearly doubling down on the largest cryptocurrency as the main digital asset within the sector.
This is especially interesting given the unstable first quarter. Despite Bitcoin corrections and ETF market volatility, European banks continue to gradually increase their crypto presence. For the traditional banking sector, this no longer looks like an experiment, but rather a gradual integration of digital assets into their own investment structures.
Intesa Enters Ethereum for the First Time
One of the most notable changes was the first appearance of Ethereum in the bank’s reports. Intesa opened a position through BlackRock iShares Staked Ethereum Trust. This means the bank began accessing not only ETH itself but also the yield model through staking.
For the institutional market, this is an important signal. Ethereum is increasingly seen not just as a speculative asset, but as an infrastructure layer for tokenization, stablecoins, and digital financial services. Against this backdrop, banks’ interest in ETH is gradually becoming more systematic.
XRP Unexpectedly Returns to the Portfolios of Major Players
Additionally, the bank opened a new position in XRP through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF for about $26 million. Just a year ago, such a move would have seemed highly controversial for a European bank due to regulatory uncertainty around Ripple. However, the market situation is gradually changing.
After the launch of the XRP ETF and growing institutional interest, the asset has once again started to return to the radar of major financial institutions.
For XRP itself, this remains an important support factor. The market is closely watching how actively banks are willing to use Ripple’s infrastructure for international settlements and tokenized operations.
Solana Almost Completely Disappears from the Portfolio
The most aggressive reduction occurred with Solana. Intesa almost completely liquidated its position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF. The number of shares dropped from more than 266,000 to less than 3,000.
This move shows that the bank has become much more cautious toward the riskier segments of the crypto market.
While Bitcoin and Ethereum are gradually gaining status as institutional base assets, Solana for many traditional players remains a more volatile and less predictable bet.
Bank Begins to Enter Cryptocurrency Derivatives
Additionally, Intesa for the first time opened a position in call options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust. This is the first publicly known case of the bank using cryptocurrency derivatives within its own strategy.
Such transactions usually indicate more active work with risk management and trading scenarios. In other words, the bank is no longer just holding ETFs but is starting to use full-fledged market strategies around crypto assets.
Intesa Also Changes Its Cryptocurrency Stock Portfolio
At the same time, the bank revised its positions in companies related to digital assets. Intesa for the first time bought shares of BitGo while fully exiting Bitmine. In addition, the bank increased its stake in Coinbase and reduced a number of other crypto positions.
This shows that the bank’s strategy is becoming more selective. The focus is shifting toward infrastructure players, custodial services, and regulated platforms.
Ripple Already Cooperates with Intesa
The increased attention to XRP did not happen by chance. Last month, Ripple announced a partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo in the field of custodial solutions for digital assets. This further strengthened the Italian bank’s ties with Ripple’s infrastructure.
For the European market, such partnerships are becoming increasingly important. Banks are trying to secure positions in advance while digital asset regulation in the EU continues to take final shape.
European Banks Accelerate Move Into Crypto
Intesa is far from the only major European bank expanding its work with digital assets. Spain’s BBVA has already launched 24/7 trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum via its mobile app. France’s BPCE is actively developing its own crypto direction through its subsidiary platform Hexarq.
At the same time, the largest European banks are preparing infrastructure to launch stablecoins under MiCA regulation. The market is gradually moving to a new phase where cryptocurrencies are becoming part of standard banking services, not just a separate experimental segment.
What’s Next?
The growth of Intesa Sanpaolo’s crypto positions shows that European banks are no longer limited to cautious market tests. Now it’s about full-fledged capital allocation among Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and infrastructure crypto companies.
It is especially important that banks are beginning to use ETFs, staking, and derivatives more actively. This means institutional strategies around digital assets are gradually becoming more complex. While the US continues to struggle with crypto regulation, European banks are integrating digital assets into their own financial systems ever more rapidly.
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