Intesa Sanpaolo Cuts BTC ETF Stake by 94%, Triples Staked ETH Position
In its Q2 2026 Form 13F filing, Italian banking giant Intesa Sanpaolo reported a 94% reduction in its flagship spot Bitcoin ETF while tripling its position in Blackrock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, underscoring a strategic pivot toward yield-generating digital assets.
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group, reshaped its digital asset portfolio during the second quarter, slashing its spot Bitcoin ETF position while expanding its exposure to a staked Ethereum product. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Intesa reduced its stake in Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) from 646,809 shares to 40,723 shares, a roughly 94% drop. The remaining position was valued at $1.36 million as of June 30. The bank also eliminated 99% of its IBIT call options and acquired a new put position covering 500,000 shares—a contract that gains value if the ETF’s price declines.
However, Intesa stopped short of a full exit from Bitcoin. It maintained a 3.47 million-share stake in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), worth $67.6 million at quarter-end, down just 4% from the prior quarter, which remains its largest single crypto exposure. The bank also left its Grayscale XRP Trust position unchanged at 712,319 shares.
On the ethereum side, Intesa tripled its holdings in Blackrock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, growing from 116,200 shares ($3.15 million) in March to 349,600 shares ($7.1 million) by June 30. This fund holds ether while passing through annual network staking rewards of approximately 3% to 4%. Given that ether fell 25% during the quarter, the purchases suggest a strategy of buying into market weakness to capture recurring yields unavailable in traditional spot bitcoin funds.
The portfolio shifts reflect a broader institutional trend toward yield-bearing crypto products. Morgan Stanley recently introduced staked ethereum exchange-traded products for institutional clients, indicating growing demand for dividend-like returns in digital assets.
These adjustments occurred amid a challenging market. Bitcoin fell 14% in Q2, marking its third consecutive quarterly loss, while spot Bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $4.89 billion in net outflows. The iShares Bitcoin Trust alone accounted for $2.95 billion of those withdrawals, while spot ethereum products registered over $715 million in outflows.
Intesa also adjusted its exposure to crypto infrastructure companies. It nearly doubled its holding in Bitgo Holdings to 323,000 shares while reducing stakes in Coinbase (down 32%), Circle (down 10%), and Robinhood (down 43%). Separately, the bank acquired 5.66 million shares in SpaceX, valued at $966.42 million, which provides indirect crypto exposure as SpaceX holds 18,712 bitcoins on its balance sheet.
CEO Carlo Messina previously described the bank’s initial Bitcoin purchase of 11 BTC for 1 million euros in January 2025 as an experimental trial. The latest filings suggest this has evolved into active, hedged portfolio management, rebalancing between products as market conditions shift. Institutional investors managing over $100 million in U.S.-listed equities have until Aug. 14 to file their Q2 13F forms, which may reveal similar strategies among other financial giants.