Italy’s largest bank by assets, Intesa Sanpaolo, has made its first foray into the cryptocurrency market with a purchase of 11 BTC worth over $1 million, according to a Reuters report.
The banking giant, which has a market capitalization of approximately $73 billion, confirmed the acquisition in an internal message on January 13, 2025. The message stated, “As of today, Intesa Sanpaolo owns 11 bitcoins.”
Intesa Sanpaolo, ranked 247th among the top 250 most valuable companies globally, is up over 2% in its stock price on Tuesday. The bank has had a proprietary trading desk in operation for several years and has been involved in spot trading for various cryptocurrencies, Reuters reports.
Bitcoin (BTC) itself is also seeing a positive shift, up 2% on Tuesday and trading above $96,500. This comes after a significant 5% drop on Monday, when it briefly touched a low of $89,400.
