In Bitcoin ETF news today, Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, filed its Q2 2026 Form 13F on August 4. The SEC filing, which discloses institutional long positions in U.S.-listed securities, shows a sharp shift in the bank’s crypto-related holdings.

Intesa reduced its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by about 94% while tripling its stake in BlackRock’s staked Ethereum product, even though both assets declined during the quarter. The move stands out because 13F filings often show how large allocators rebalance after volatile periods, and this one captures a rotation within crypto rather than a clean move in or out of the asset class.

Italy’s Largest Bank Intesa Sanpaolo Cuts IBIT Stake 94%, Triples Staked Ethereum ETF Holdings

Italy’s largest banking group, Intesa Sanpaolo, reported in its latest Form 13F that, as of June 30, its common-share position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) fell 93.7%… pic.twitter.com/A5YjlWyym9

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This development comes as Bitcoin trades at around $64,000, up 0.7% over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum is changing hands at roughly $1,850, up 0.3% over the same period.

The wider crypto market is up 1.7% from the previous day. Total market capitalization stands at $2.27 trillion, while daily trading volume is above $53 billion, up from $48 billion the day before.

IBIT position reduced, but not a full Bitcoin exit

Intesa cut its IBIT holdings from 646,809 shares to 40,723 shares, leaving a position valued at $1.36 million as of June 30, according to the SEC filing.

The bank also eliminated 99% of its IBIT call options and replaced them with a new put position covering 500,000 shares. A put option generally benefits if the underlying asset falls further.

Even so, the move does not amount to a complete exit from Bitcoin. Intesa retained 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), valued at $67.6 million. That remained the largest crypto-linked holding in the filing and was down only about 4% from the prior quarter.

The bank also left its Grayscale XRP Trust position unchanged at 712,319 shares. The overall pattern points to selective reduction rather than a wholesale withdrawal from institutional crypto exposure.

Intesa increases exposure to staked Ethereum

While Bitcoin exposure was being reduced, Intesa moved in the opposite direction on Ethereum. The bank tripled its holding in BlackRock’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, a product that holds ETH and passes through staking rewards from the network.

Those rewards typically run at around 3% to 4% annually. Intesa increased its position from 116,200 shares worth $3.15 million at the end of March to 349,600 shares worth $7.1 million by June 30, according to the primary source filing.

Ethereum fell 25% during Q2 2026, meaning Intesa added to its position during weakness rather than during a rally. The move highlights a difference between the two ETF structures: spot Bitcoin funds provide direct price exposure, while staked Ethereum products add a network-yield component that can matter for institutions comparing total return features rather than price direction alone.

Morgan Stanley has taken a similar direction, launching staked Ethereum ETPs for institutional clients, indicating that demand for yield-bearing ETH products may be becoming broader across institutional markets.

( SOURCE: Yahoo Finance )

Market backdrop: a difficult quarter for crypto ETFs

Intesa’s portfolio changes came during a weak quarter for digital assets. Bitcoin fell 14% in Q2 2026, marking its third consecutive quarter of losses. Over the same period, net outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs reached about $4.89 billion, according to CoinGlass data.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust alone recorded $2.95 billion in outflows during the quarter. Spot Ethereum ETF products also saw more than $715 million in outflows over the same period.

The filing also showed that Intesa nearly doubled its BitGo Holdings stake to 323,000 shares, while cutting positions in Coinbase by 32%, Circle by 10%, and Robinhood by 43%. That suggests a pullback from crypto infrastructure equities even as the bank increased exposure on the ETF side.

The largest single disclosed position in the filing was not a crypto asset directly: Intesa opened a 5.66 million-share stake in SpaceX valued at $966.42 million. SpaceX holds 18,712 BTC on its balance sheet, which gives the holding indirect Bitcoin exposure.

CEO Carlo Messina previously described the bank’s first direct Bitcoin purchase, 11 BTC for about 1 million euros in January 2025, as an experiment.

The Q2 2026 filing indicates that the experiment has evolved into active portfolio management, with the bank rotating between products, adding yield exposure, and using hedges as conditions change. The next quarterly filing, due by August 14, will show whether other institutions adopted a similar ETF rotation strategy during Q2.