Italy’s Largest Bank Adds Bitcoin, Eth and XRP Exposure in Q1
Key takeaways
- Italy’s largest bank more than doubled its crypto-related exposure in the first quarter, lifting reported holdings to about $235 million as of March 31 from roughly $100 million at the end of 2025.
- The Q1 snapshot also shows a broader mix than the bank carried three months earlier.
- Ripple, The Company Behind XRP, Is Valued At $50 Billion
Italy’s Largest Bank Adds Bitcoin, Eth and XRP Exposure in Q1 Crypto Prowl Mon, May 18, 2026 at 1:31 AM GMT+7 2 min read BTC-USD XRP-USD ETH-USD BTGO COIN Intesa Sanpaolo’s crypto portfolio is no longer a small side note on a bank balance sheet.
Italy’s largest bank more than doubled its crypto-related exposure in the first quarter, lifting reported holdings to about $235 million as of March 31 from roughly $100 million at the end of 2025. The increase was led by larger bitcoin positions through regulated market products, including the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust.
The Q1 snapshot also shows a broader mix than the bank carried three months earlier. Intesa added ether exposure for the first time through BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum (CRYPTO: $ETH) Trust and opened a new XRP (CRYPTO: $XRP) position through the Grayscale XRP Trust, which was valued at about $26 million in the report.