Intesa Sanpaolo, one of Italy’s leading banking institutions, has revealed significant investments in the cryptocurrency sector, specifically in bitcoin ETFs and options tied to Strategy shares. According to a recent 13F filing for the quarter ending December 2025, the banking giant’s total exposure to bitcoin ETFs amounts to approximately $96 million.
The filing details five distinct spot bitcoin ETF positions, which include an impressive $72.6 million allocated to the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and $23.4 million to the iShares Bitcoin Trust. Additionally, the bank reported a $4.3 million stake in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, which tracks the value of Solana (SOL) and secures staking rewards.
Notably, Intesa Sanpaolo also disclosed a substantial put option position concerning Strategy, which holds the largest corporate bitcoin reserves of 714,644 BTC, valued at an estimated $184.6 million. This put option grants the bank the right, though not the obligation, to sell MSTR shares at a predetermined price in the future. The strategic positioning on bitcoin ETFs, alongside this put option, suggests a potential trade aimed at capitalizing on discrepancies between Strategy’s stock price and the value of its bitcoin holdings.
As of now, Strategy was trading at a multiple of net asset value (mNAV) of 2.9 but has since dropped to 1.21 mNAV, as indicated on its website. A contraction of this gap could yield profits for Intesa if the stock price aligns more closely with the intrinsic value of its bitcoin assets.
Additionally, the filing highlighted equity stakes in various crypto-linked firms, including Coinbase, Robinhood, BitMine, and ETHZilla, with Circle being the largest of these positions, valued at around $4.4 million.
The investment strategy employed by Intesa Sanpaolo is represented in the filing under the “DFND” (Shared-Defined) designation, which suggests that the investment decisions were collaboratively made by Intesa Sanpaolo and its affiliated asset managers. However, the identity of these asset managers—whether they are affiliated with Intesa or institutional clients—remains unclear.
Typically, this structure allows the parent bank to maintain oversight and centralized strategy, while subsidiaries are responsible for executing trades. In an effort to gather more information, CoinDesk reached out to Intesa Sanpaolo for comment but had not received a response at the time of reporting.
Interestingly, the bank’s U.S. wealth management division submitted a separate 13F filing which did not report any digital asset exposure. Earlier in the year, Intesa Sanpaolo made headlines when it acquired 11 bitcoin for over $1 million. The bank has maintained a proprietary trading desk for several years, one that also manages cryptocurrency dealings.
