Intesa Sanpaolo built a $966.4 million position in SpaceX while cutting its BlackRock Bitcoin (BTC) ETF stake by 94%, according to a second-quarter filing.
Key Points:
- Intesa held 5.66 million SpaceX shares worth $966.4 million as of June 30.
- Its IBIT common-share position fell from 646,809 shares to 40,723, while the bank added puts covering 500,000 shares.
- The filing still showed 3.47 million ARKB shares, so the bank did not exit Bitcoin-linked funds entirely.
Intesa SpaceX Bet
The SEC filing shows Intesa owned 5,656,200 SpaceX shares worth $966.42 million at quarter-end, making the aerospace company its largest disclosed U.S. holding. That position represented roughly one-third of its $2.92 billion U.S. portfolio.
SpaceX went public on Jun. 12, and its own filings had disclosed 18,712 Bitcoin on the balance sheet, giving Intesa indirect crypto exposure even as it reduced one direct ETF position.
Other institutions reported large SpaceX stakes, too. Harvard Management Company disclosed 12.94 million shares worth about $2.21 billion, making the company its largest individual U.S. holding. The University of California reported another 6 million shares valued at about $1.03 billion.
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Bitcoin ETF Shift
Intesa moved the other way in one part of its crypto portfolio. Its iShares Bitcoin Trust holding fell from 646,809 shares in the first quarter to 40,723 by June 30, while IBIT call exposure dropped from 2.50 million shares to 18,000.
The bank still held 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, worth $67.63 million at quarter-end. It did not leave Bitcoin-linked funds. Fabio Panetta, governor of the Bank of Italy, warned in 2025 that growing crypto links could create reputational risks for banks if customers confuse digital assets with traditional banking products.
Intesa’s crypto activity predates the latest filing. In Jan. 2025, Carlo Messina described the bank’s first proprietary purchase of 11 Bitcoin, worth about 1 million euros, as a test meant to prepare for possible demand from sophisticated clients. The bank had established a proprietary digital-asset trading desk in 2023 and began handling spot crypto trades the following year.
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