Intesa Sanpaolo Cuts BlackRock’s IBIT 94% to 40,723 Shares, Triples ETHB to $7.1M

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group, slashed its BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) position by roughly 94% in the second quarter, cutting its share count from 646,809 to just 40,723, according to a Form 13F filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Over the same period the bank tripled its stake in the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), lifting its holding from 116,200 shares worth $3.15 million at the end of March to 349,600 shares worth $7.1 million as of June 30.

The filing lays out a clear divergence in how the bank is positioning across the two largest crypto assets: a near-total exit from one of the market’s flagship spot Bitcoin products alongside a rapid build-up in an Ether fund that pays staking rewards on top of price exposure.

Bitcoin exposure shrinks, but not everywhere

The IBIT drawdown does not mean Intesa is walking away from Bitcoin altogether. The bank’s largest crypto-linked position remains the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), where it held 3.47 million shares valued at $67.6 million — down only about 4% quarter-on-quarter. In other words, Intesa concentrated its Bitcoin exposure into ARKB while gutting its BlackRock allocation, rather than reducing Bitcoin holdings across the board.

That reshuffling suggests a preference reordering among competing Bitcoin ETF issuers rather than a broad retreat from the asset itself.

Ether fund triples, other altcoin bets steady or growing

The ETHB build-up stands out as the filing’s clearest signal: a threefold increase in share count and more than doubling in dollar value in a single quarter for a product that layers staking yield on top of spot Ether exposure. Elsewhere in the portfolio, Intesa left its Grayscale XRP Trust ETF (GXRP) position unchanged at 712,319 shares, nearly doubled its stake in crypto custody firm BitGo to 323,000 shares, and trimmed its Coinbase equity position down to 7,000 shares.

Taken together, the moves point to a bank rotating capital toward yield-generating and custody-adjacent crypto exposure while paring back a specific Bitcoin ETF line and its direct Coinbase stock stake.

Why the disclosure matters

13F filings only capture US-listed equity and ETF positions as of quarter-end, so they offer a partial but verifiable snapshot of how a major traditional lender is allocating to regulated crypto products rather than holding coins directly. Crypto ETFs let institutions such as Intesa gain price exposure to Bitcoin, Ether or XRP through standard brokerage accounts, sidestepping the custody and compliance overhead of holding the underlying assets.

For traders and portfolio managers watching institutional flows, the filing is a data point that a large European bank is favoring a staking-enabled Ether product and select Bitcoin ETF issuers over BlackRock’s IBIT — a shift worth tracking as more Q2 13F filings from other institutions land in the coming weeks.

Read more: BitMine Holds 4.8% of All ETH Supply as Ethereum Sits at $1,861

Sources

• cointelegraph.com
• beincrypto.com