Italy’s top bank buys Bitcoin worth $1 million: report says
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank by assets under management and market capitalization, has made its first Bitcoin purchase as cryptocurrencies make their way into the mainstream financial system around the world.
The bank, with origins dating back to 1583, has made a €1 million – about $1 million – investment in Bitcoin, an internal note seen by Bloomberg and other media outlets revealed.
“As of today, January 13, 2025, Intesa Sanpaolo owns 11 bitcoins,” detailed an internal statement cited by Reuters.
According to the information, this is not the bank’s first foray into the world of cryptocurrencies, as, in 2023, Intesa opened a proprietary cryptocurrency trading desk within the corporate and investment banking division.
To date, that arm had only traded cryptocurrency options, futures and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), so this would be the bank’s first investment in a spot cryptocurrency, the newspapers added.
In November, that desk had obtained the required internal approvals and had put in place technical systems to make spot cryptocurrency purchases, Bloomberg noted. The reports did not specify whether the purchase was part of a broader strategy by the Italian bank to invest in Bitcoin or actively incorporate the digital currency into its corporate reserve.
Bitcoin carves out a niche among global banks
The move comes after Bitcoin more than doubled in price in 2024, amid the authorization of the first spot ETFs in the U.S. market and excitement over the presidential victory of cryptocurrency supporter Donald Trump. Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $108,000 in December, setting a new all-time high.
Since then, Bitcoin has pulled back markedly, but is up 125% in the last year.
Other financial institutions have also started to get into the asset class; specifically in Europe, major banks such as France’s BPCE and Germany’s Commerzbank and DZ Bank have set their sights on integrating cryptocurrencies. The week before, British multinational Standard Chartered announced the anticipated launch of cryptocurrency services in Europe.
Intesa Sanpaolo has a market capitalization of approximately $73 billion, placing it among the 250 most valuable companies in the world, and its assets under management stood at €430 billion in 2022.
