Italy’s Largest Bank Intesa Makes Its First Spot Bitcoin Buy

Bank’s prop trading desk bought 11 Bitcoin on Monday
Large financial firms like BlackRock are pushing into crypto

Intesa Makes First Spot Bitcoin Buy

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By Anna Irrera and Sonia Sirletti

January 14, 2025 at 9:06 AM UTC

Updated on

January 14, 2025 at 4:34 PM UTC

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Intesa Sanpaolo SpA has made its first spot Bitcoin purchase, buying roughly 1 million euros ($1 million) worth of the original cryptocurrency, as Italy’s largest banking group pushes deeper into the asset class.

Intesa bought 11 Bitcoin on Monday, the bank’s digital asset trading and investments head Niccolò Bardoscia said in an internal email that was posted on online forum 4chan. Local media earlier reported the purchase.