PANews reported on May 17 that, according to Cointelegraph, Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank, more than doubled its cryptocurrency exposure in the first quarter of this year, increasing its holdings from approximately $100 million by the end of 2025 to approximately $235 million.

This growth was primarily driven by an expansion in Bitcoin holdings, with the bank increasing its holdings of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF and the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. Additionally, the bank made its debut in the Ethereum space through the BlackRock iShares Staking Ethereum Trust and purchased approximately $26 million worth of XRP through the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF. The bank also established a position in iShares Bitcoin Trust call options, marking its first foray into derivatives. The bank stated that its cryptocurrency positions are for proprietary trading purposes but has not disclosed whether these assets are also used to hedge products offered to professional clients.