Summary
- Italian banking giant Intesa Sanpaolo cut its IBIT shareholding by 94%, nearly eliminated its calls and added puts covering 500,000 shares in the second quarter.
- In contrast, it tripled its stake in iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB).
- Bitcoin slid 14% in the quarter and U.S. spot ETFs saw net outflows of $4.89 billion, while ether slumped 25% with a net $715 million of ETF outflows.
Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP), Italy’s second-largest bank by market capitalization, reduced its bitcoin BTC$64,019.25 exposure through the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF, in the second quarter, cutting its stake by 94% and nearly eliminating call options as the price of the largest cryptocurrency tumbled.
The bank reported owning 40,723 shares of IBIT valued at $1.36 million as of June 30, down from 646,809 shares three months earlier, as reported by its latest filings. The bank also got rid of 99% of its call options, which give it the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares in the ETF at a predetermined price, while adding put options, which give the equivalent right to sell.
The Turin-based company’s holdings restructuring took place during a quarter that saw the bitcoin price slump 14% after two successive quarters of declines in excess of 20%. For ether (ETH), in contrast, the bank bolstered its ETF positions even as the second-largest cryptocurrency slid 25%.
