Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo cuts IBIT 94%, triples ETHB stake

Italy’s largest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, sharply reduced its reported position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust during the second quarter while increasing its exposure to BlackRock’s staked Ethereum fund.

Intesa held 40,723 common shares of IBIT on June 30, down 93.7% from 646,809 shares at the end of March. Its reported IBIT call position also fell from an underlying 2.50 million shares to 18,000 shares. The latest Form 13F introduced a put position tied to 500,000 IBIT shares.

At the same time, Intesa increased its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF holding from 116,200 to 349,600 shares. Its Bitwise Solana Staking ETF position fell from 2,817 shares to seven. These are reported securities over which Intesa exercised investment discretion. The filing does not establish whether every position belonged to the bank’s proprietary treasury, a managed fund or customer accounts.

Intesa Sanpaolo cut IBIT but retained major Bitcoin exposure

The common IBIT position was valued at $1.36 million on June 30, compared with $24.85 million at the end of March. The reported share amount connected to calls fell 99.3%, while the new put represented 500,000 underlying shares with a reported value of $16.65 million.

However, the filing does not show a broad withdrawal from listed Bitcoin products. Intesa still reported 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, or ARKB, worth $67.63 million. The share count was only 3.7% below the 3.61 million shares reported three months earlier.

ARKB therefore remained Intesa’s largest disclosed crypto ETF position by market value. The continuing holding limits conclusions that the banking group abandoned Bitcoin exposure simply because it reduced IBIT.

As crypto.news previously reported, Intesa had expanded its reported Bitcoin, Ether and XRP securities during the first quarter. The second quarter filing points to a more selective adjustment between issuers and products rather than a complete exit from the asset class.

The 500,000 share IBIT put does not reveal net exposure

The newly reported put could provide downside protection, form part of a wider options trade or express a bearish position. The filing does not disclose its strike price, expiration date, purchase premium or connection with other holdings.

SEC instructions require managers to report option entries using the shares and market value of the underlying security. Form 13F also excludes written options and conventional short positions. Those positions are not subtracted from disclosed long holdings.

The 500,000 share put therefore should not be treated as proof that Intesa held a net short position against IBIT or Bitcoin. The full economic exposure could depend on contracts and positions that do not appear in the public filing.

A clear market reaction also cannot be isolated from the disclosure. Form 13F reports quarter end positions and can be filed as long as 45 days after the reporting period. Intesa may have changed any of the positions after June 30.

Staked Ethereum became a larger reported position

Intesa increased its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF position by 200.9%, taking the share count to 349,600. Its reported value rose from $3.15 million at the end of March to $7.10 million on June 30.

BlackRock’s fund, which trades under the ETHB ticker, combines exposure to Ether’s market price with rewards generated by staking part of its holdings. BlackRock reported net fund assets of about $562.5 million as of Aug. 3. The product launched on Nasdaq in February 2026.

The larger ETHB position may reflect interest in a product that generates staking rewards in addition to tracking Ether. However, Intesa has not published an explanation for the trade, and the 13F does not disclose its investment reasoning.

In related coverage, crypto.news examined how ETHB uses professional validators while returning a portion of staking revenue to shareholders.

Solana exposure fell to a negligible level

Intesa reduced its Bitwise Solana Staking ETF holding from 2,817 shares to seven. The position was valued at only $70 on June 30, compared with $31,128 three months earlier.

The change leaves Solana exposure negligible within this specific filing. By comparison, the bank retained millions of shares in ARKB and hundreds of thousands of shares in ETHB and the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF. Intesa’s XRP share count remained unchanged at 712,319, although its reported value declined with the fund’s market price.

The next Form 13F, covering positions on Sept. 30, should show whether the reduction in IBIT and expansion into ETHB represented a lasting allocation change. That filing will still provide only a quarter end snapshot and will not reveal the complete options structure or every asset managed across the Intesa group.

Intesa reported €992.67 billion in total assets and €5.55 billion in net income for the first half of 2026. Its scale makes the crypto ETF activity notable, but the 13F data should not be treated as a complete view of the bank’s balance sheet or overall digital asset strategy.