Italy’s largest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, has disclosed significant exposure to digital assets along with a sophisticated hedge that has caught market attention.
In its latest quarterly 13F filing, Intesa revealed that it holds $96 million in spot Bitcoin ETFs. The largest allocation, $72.6 million, is invested in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, while another $23.4 million is invested in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust. The bank also disclosed a $4.3 million stake in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, which provides exposure to Solana and staking rewards.
But what truly stands out is Intesa’s sizable $184.6 million put option position on Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin.
A put option gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to sell shares at a predetermined price. In simple terms, Intesa could profit if Strategy’s share price declines.
This appears to be a calculated trade. Strategy’s stock has historically traded at a premium to the value of its Bitcoin holdings. This calculation is made by a metric known as multiple of net asset value (mNAV). At one point, Strategy traded at 2.9 times its Bitcoin value. More recently, that multiple has dropped closer to 1.21.
If that premium continues to shrink, the put option position could become profitable. Combined with its long exposure to Bitcoin ETFs, Intesa may effectively be expressing a relative-value trade: bullish on Bitcoin itself, but cautious about Strategy’s stock premium.
The filing also revealed smaller equity stakes in crypto-linked firms including Coinbase, Robinhood, BitMine, and Circle. These positions are relatively minor compared to the ETF and options exposure.
Interestingly, the investments were designated as “DFND” (Shared-Defined), meaning decisions were made jointly by Intesa Sanpaolo and affiliated asset managers. Whether these represent proprietary trades or institutional client allocations remains unclear.
For a traditional European banking giant, the move reflects a deeper integration of crypto into mainstream portfolio strategies. Rather than simply buying digital assets outright, Intesa is using structured products, ETFs, and derivatives, approaching crypto with the same tools used in traditional finance.
This signals not just participation, but financial sophistication in how institutions are positioning around digital assets.
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