Italy’s Largest Bank More Than Doubled Its Crypto Exposure in Q1, Adding Ethereum and XRP for the First Time

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, reported roughly $235 million in crypto exposure as of March 31, 2026. That is up from about $100 million at the end of 2025.

The bank built the position entirely through regulated investment products. Bitcoin ETFs remained the foundation, but Q1 marked the first time Intesa added Ethereum and XRP to its crypto allocation.

LATEST: 🏦 Intesa Sanpaolo more than doubled its crypto exposure to $235M in Q1, adding Ethereum and XRP for the first time while nearly exiting Solana. pic.twitter.com/psN31MDjJi

— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) May 18, 2026

On the Bitcoin side, Intesa expanded holdings in both the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. Filing tracker 13F Pro shows the iShares Bitcoin Trust position at about $95.9 million and the ARK 21Shares position at about $81.2 million, making them two of the bank’s largest disclosed U.S. holdings.

Intesa also opened a new position in iShares Bitcoin Trust call options, adding a leveraged layer to its existing spot BTC ETF exposure.

The Ethereum entry came through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust. The XRP allocation was built through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, valued at approximately $26 million.

As Cointelegraph reported:

According to Cointelegraph: Intesa Sanpaolo’s crypto exposure rose from about $100 million at the end of 2025 to about $235 million as of March 31, 2026. The expanded allocation came through regulated investment products rather than direct token purchases across multiple wallets.

Bitcoin exposure grew through positions in the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. The bank also entered Ethereum for the first time through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust and added XRP exposure through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, with the XRP position valued around $26 million.

Intesa also opened a new position in iShares Bitcoin Trust call options. On the other side of the ledger, its Bitwise Solana Staking ETF position fell from 266,320 shares to 2,817 shares.

That mix makes the story a useful PCN read because it shows a major European commercial bank adding regulated exposure to several large crypto assets while still actively pruning its allocation. Cointelegraph published the Intesa Sanpaolo crypto-holdings story on May 17, 2026.

Cointelegraph described Intesa Sanpaolo as Italy’s largest bank. Intesa’s crypto exposure rose from about $100 million at the end of 2025 to about $235 million as of March 31, 2026.

On the opposite end, Intesa slashed its Solana exposure. The bank’s Bitwise Solana Staking ETF position dropped from 266,320 shares to 2,817 shares.

That is a near-total exit.

CoinMarketCap Academy summarized the shift with a focus on the asset mix:

According to CoinMarketCap Academy: CoinMarketCap Academy summarized the same allocation change with a focus on the top assets involved. Intesa Sanpaolo increased its crypto exposure to $235 million while adding ETH and XRP-linked products.

The bank expanded existing positions in both the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF during the first quarter of 2026. The move followed earlier Intesa activity in Bitcoin and came as European banks continued building regulated paths into crypto custody, trading, and investment products.

For PCN readers, the important point is the asset mix: Bitcoin remained the base layer of the allocation, Ethereum and XRP entered the portfolio for the first time, and Solana exposure was reduced sharply. That is a recognizably major-asset story, not a thin niche-protocol story.

The growth was driven by expanded Bitcoin positions in ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. Intesa entered Ethereum for the first time through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust.

Intesa added XRP exposure through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, with Cointelegraph citing an approximate $26 million value. Intesa opened a new position in iShares Bitcoin Trust call options.

Italy’s biggest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, more than doubled its crypto ETF holdings to $235 million in the first quarter of 2026. They added exposure to XRP and ETH, while also boosting their positions in BlackRock’s IBIT and ARK 21Shares’ Bitcoin ETF.

One of Europe’s major… pic.twitter.com/43K8A8anrU

— Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) May 18, 2026

The allocation pattern tells you something about how a large European commercial bank thinks about crypto in 2026. Bitcoin is the anchor.

Ethereum and XRP got the nod through BlackRock and Grayscale wrappers. Solana, at least for now, did not make the cut.

More than doubling crypto exposure in a single quarter is a meaningful move from a bank of this size. Intesa Sanpaolo is one of the eurozone’s largest financial institutions by market capitalization, and every dollar of this allocation flowed through regulated ETF and trust vehicles.

The broader trend here is real. European banks are building crypto positions inside compliant product rails, and they are concentrating those bets on the largest assets in the market.

That is exactly the kind of institutional adoption that moves the floor under Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP over time.

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