Intesa Sanpaolo Shifts Away from Bitcoin, Trips Stake in Ethereum
Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has significantly reduced its exposure to Bitcoin in the second quarter of this year, according to its latest 13F filing submitted on July 31.
The bank decreased its shares in BlackRock's IBIT Bitcoin ETF by 93.7%, from 646,809 shares to just over 40,000 shares.
This drastic reduction is accompanied by a drop of nearly 99% in the bank's call options linked to this crypto ETF, while a new put option for 500,000 shares appears.
In contrast, Intesa Sanpaolo has tripled its stake in the staked Ethereum ETF, increasing it from 116,200 to 349,600 shares.
This shift towards Ethereum highlights institutional investors' growing interest in yield-generating products, such as crypto staking, which offers a stream of passive income.