Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, significantly expanded its exposure to crypto assets in the first quarter of 2026, more than doubling its holdings to about $235 million as of March 31 from roughly $100 million at the end of 2025. The increase was driven primarily by Bitcoin allocations through the bank’s positions in the ARK 21Shares BTC ETF and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. For the first time, Intesa also added Ethereum exposure via BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust and acquired a new stake in Ripple’s XRP through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF, totaling around $26 million, according to a report by Criptovaluta.it.

The Italian lender also ventured into derivatives, opening a new position in iShares Bitcoin…