Skip to main content
Sahmino
Back to the newsroom
CryptoEurope

Intesa Sanpaolo cuts its BlackRock bitcoin fund holding by 93.7% and triples its ethereum fund position

Aug 5, 2026

A bitcoin price chart. Bitcoin traded at around $64,168 on Wednesday, 5 August 2026.
A bitcoin price chart. Bitcoin traded at around $64,168 on Wednesday, 5 August 2026.Source: CoinDesk

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest banking group, disclosed a wide reshuffle of its digital asset portfolio in its Form 13F filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ending June 2026.

According to the filing, the bank's direct holding in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) fell 93.7 percent, from 648,923 shares in the first quarter of the year to just 40,723 shares. Its call option positions also dropped 99.3 percent, while it opened new put option positions. By contrast, its allocation to BlackRock's ethereum fund rose 200 percent, from 116,200 to 349,600 shares, and the bank divested almost all of its holding in Bitwise's solana staking fund.

The shift coincides with outflows from spot bitcoin exchange traded funds in the first half of 2026. It should be noted that 13F filings do not necessarily cover all off balance sheet holdings or complex derivatives, and the positions may form part of a broader hedging strategy. Bitcoin was trading at around $64,168 on Wednesday, 5 August 2026 (14 Mordad 1405).

Source

Arzdigital

Related news

CryptoGlobal

G7 Warns of Quantum Computing Threat to Cryptocurrency Security

The Group of Seven (G7), comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, warned in a new report published Saturday, September 5, 2026 (14 Shahrivar 1405), that advances in quantum computing pose a serious threat to current economic infrastructure and cryptographic systems. According to Arzdigital, the group called on governments and the private sector to begin migrating to quantum resistant systems before quantum technologies can decrypt sensitive data. Per the report, while the G7 statement does not name cryptocurrencies directly, the public key algorithms underpinning blockchain and digital wallet security are vulnerable to the threat. Bitcoin developers are studying proposals such as BIP-360 for quantum resistant signatures, Ethereum researchers are working to replace cryptographic components in staking contracts, and the Solana network, which uses EdDSA signatures, has an easier migration path and has already tested post quantum signatures on its test network.

Arzdigital · Sep 5, 2026

CryptoNorth America

Coinbase Adds Six New Tokenized Stocks, Including Tesla and SpaceX, to Its Base Network

According to Arzdigital, Coinbase added six new tokenized assets to its Base layer two network on Friday, September 4, 2026 (13 Shahrivar 1405), after recording 228 million dollars in trading volume in the first 30 days of its tokenized stock offering. The new list includes shares of Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, SanDisk, Strategy and SpaceX, now available to eligible investors as onchain tokens; the addition brings the number of tokenized stocks on Base to 10, joining Apple, Google, Meta and Nvidia. Per the report, the assets are issued under the B20 standard by Coinbase Onchain SPV in the Abu Dhabi Global Market free zone, with Alpaca Securities, registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, handling brokerage and custody. Under US law, the tokens are not available to US citizens, but other eligible investors can hold them in personal wallets and use them as collateral for lending or borrowing on decentralized finance platforms.

Arzdigital · Sep 5, 2026

CryptoNorth America

Zcash Tops $1,000 After First US Spot ETF Approval and SEC Closing Its Investigation

According to Arzdigital, the cryptocurrency Zcash topped 1,000 dollars for the first time on Friday, September 4, 2026 (13 Shahrivar 1405), reaching 1,023 dollars on Coinbase, up from under 50 dollars at the start of 2025. The jump followed the US Securities and Exchange Commission's decision in January 2026 to close a two year investigation into the Zcash Foundation without penalty, clearing the way for Grayscale to convert its fund into the first Zcash spot ETF, trading under the ticker ZCSH on NYSE Arca, which now holds more than 414 million dollars in assets under management. Per the report, the rally came alongside the liquidation of more than 34.5 million dollars in short derivatives positions, which pushed the price up about 20 percent further in a short span. Zcash, long under regulatory pressure over its privacy focused design, has now returned to the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value; analysts cited by Arzdigital described it as hard money comparable to bitcoin, with a 21 million unit supply cap, that also allows confidential transactions.

Arzdigital · Sep 5, 2026

Crypto

Illegal Crypto Mining in Iran Consumes 3,750 Megawatts; More Than 13,000 Unlicensed Farms Identified

According to Boursenews, published Friday, 13 Shahrivar 1405 (September 4, 2026), more than 13,000 unlicensed cryptocurrency mining farms have been identified in Iran, with power consumption reaching about 3,750 megawatts, equal to the electricity use of four Iranian provinces and about 8 percent of residential power consumption. Per the report, illegal crypto mining costs the country close to 2.5 billion dollars a year, and authorities have so far identified and seized more than 300,000 unlicensed mining rigs or units operating during restricted hours, with estimated consumption of about 1,300 megawatts. Boursenews writes that more than 70 percent of the discovered farms were located in residential areas, and state utility company Tavanir said identified violators, including illegal miners, will be barred from energy subsidies for one year and billed for their electricity use at the unsubsidized free market rate. According to the report, citizen reports of abnormal power use, equipment noise and voltage drops have played an effective role in identifying these facilities.

Boursenews · Sep 4, 2026