Intesa Sanpaolo Cuts Bitcoin ETF Stake 94%, Triples Staked Ethereum Holdings

One of Italys biggest banks just told regulators, in plain filing language, that its betting against the exact trade it made a big show of entering not long ago.

Intesa Sanpaolos Q2 13F filing reveals the bank cut its BlackRock IBIT Bitcoin ETF stake by 94%, from 646,809 shares down to just 40,723, while eliminating 99% of its IBIT call options and opening a new put position on 500,000 shares betting on further Bitcoin ETF price declines. At the same time, the bank tripled its staked-Ethereum ETF holding to 349,600 shares, worth approximately $7.1 million.

The bank didnt exit crypto entirely: it kept its ARK Bitcoin ETF and Grayscale XRP Trust positions intact, suggesting this is a targeted rotation away from specific Bitcoin exposure rather than a broad institutional retreat from digital assets altogether.

The scale of the shift, cutting Bitcoin ETF exposure by nearly 95% while simultaneously tripling staked Ethereum exposure, is a notably aggressive rebalancing for a major banks 13F-disclosed holdings, and the new put position specifically signals an active bearish view on Bitcoin ETF prices rather than simple profit-taking.

13F filings only capture a snapshot of holdings at quarter-end and dont explain the reasoning behind a position change, so the specific catalyst behind Intesa Sanpaolos rotation from Bitcoin toward yield-bearing Ethereum exposure isnt disclosed alongside the numbers themselves.

Want to understand what a 13F filing actually reveals about institutional crypto holdings? Learn more in the Bitcoin Academy.