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Intesa Sanpaolo Cuts Bitcoin ETF Stake and Adds to Ethereum Position

Italy's biggest bank is shifting capital from BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF to a staked Ethereum fund. The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and XRP Trust are still in the mix too.

By Mike Hesp
• 2 min read
Intesa Sanpaolo Cuts Bitcoin ETF Stake and Adds to Ethereum Position

Key Takeaways

  • Intesa Sanpaolo sharply cut its stake in BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF, from 646.809 to 40.723 shares.
  • At the same time, the bank increased its position in the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust from 116.200 to 349.600 shares.
  • Intesa kept its biggest crypto ETF position in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and continued to trim Solana exposure.

Intesa Sanpaolo has slashed its position in BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF over the last quarter, while moving more of its capital into a staked Ethereum fund. The latest Form 13F suggests Italy's largest bank is rebalancing its U.S. crypto ETF position, even though Bitcoin still remains in the mix.

Bitcoin Stake Nearly Gone

By June 30, the bank reported only 40.723 shares in the iShares Bitcoin Trust, valued at $1.36 million (€1.2 million). Just three months earlier, it held 646.809 shares. Its call position also dropped almost entirely, falling from exposure to 2,5 million shares to just 18.000.

One of the more notable changes was a new put position on 500.000 IBIT shares. Since puts typically rise in value when the underlying asset falls, the move points to a more cautious view on Bitcoin (BTC). Even so, Intesa Sanpaolo still held 3,47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, worth $67.6 million (€58.6 million), which remains its largest crypto ETF position.

More Room for Ethereum

At the same time, Intesa Sanpaolo boosted its stake in the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust from 116.200 to 349.600 shares, worth $7.1 million (€6.2 million). That lines up with a broader pattern among institutions, where Ethereum products that offer staking yield are drawing more attention than Bitcoin funds, which do not provide that feature.

The bank also left its position in the Grayscale XRP Trust unchanged at $14.4 million (€12.5 million). It also opened a small $293,190 (€254,200) position in the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust. Meanwhile, its position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF was reduced from 2.817 shares to just seven.

What This Means for Europe

For European crypto watchers, the main signal is that a major traditional bank is not only pulling back from Bitcoin ETFs, but also leaning more heavily into Ethereum products that come with staking rewards. That may be a sign that professional investors are starting to look at crypto more by use case, rather than treating Bitcoin as the default entry point. The 13F filings still do not show the full picture, including short positions or options structures, so Intesa Sanpaolo's net exposure remains only partly visible.

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