Intesa Sanpaolo more than doubles crypto exposure to $235M in Q1 — adds ETH and XRP for the first time!

Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, surged its crypto-related assets from roughly $100 million at the end of Q4 2025 to approximately $235 million by March 31, 2026 — a move that signals a decisive shift from cautious observer to active allocator across multiple digital assets.

The bank expanded beyond Bitcoin to gain Ethereum exposure for the first time, doing so through BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust. It also opened a new Ripple position via Grayscale's XRP Trust, accumulating 712,319 shares valued at around $18 million. Notably, Intesa simultaneously trimmed its Solana allocation through the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, suggesting active portfolio management rather than a passive broad-market bet.

The breadth of the move — spanning BTC, ETH, XRP, and regulated ETF wrappers — points to an institutional framework that is becoming standard among European banks: gain…