Intesa Sanpaolo becomes the first Italian bank to invest in crypto, buying more than $1m worth of BTC

Banca Intesa Sanpaolo has become the first Italian bank to purchase Bitcoin, as revealed by email screenshots leaked on the website 4chan.

According to a report by Wired Italia, traders spotted a recent crypto purchase by Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank by assets. Intesa Sanpaolo became the first Italian bank to invest in cryptocurrency after purchasing 11 Bitcoin (BTC), equal to approximately 1 million euros or $1.02 million.

The investment first appeared on the image-based newsletter platform 4chan, where users can share images and comment anonymously. On January 13, an unknown user leaked screenshots of email exchanges sent by Niccolò Bardoscia, head of digital asset trading and investments at Intesa Sanpaolo.

“As of today 13.01.2025, Intesa Sanpaolo has 11 Bitcoins. Thank you all for your teamwork,” Bardoscia said in an email to some of the firm executives who helped make the acquisition happen.

Banca Intesa Sanpaolo confirmed the validity of the purchase to Wired Italia, stating that they did indeed purchase 11 BTC and that the email screenshots were real. However, the bank did not provide any other information regarding crypto investments.

According to the report, Wired Italia still does not know the reason behind Intesa Sanpaolo’s crypto investment and whether it is part of their strategy to add more Bitcoin to their investment portfolio in the future.

So far, no other major Italian credit group has made any official announcement about investing in cryptocurrency. In fact, Intesa Sanpaolo has not yet disclosed its latest Bitcoin purchase through any of its official communication channels.

Intesa Sanpaolo expanded its digital asset products to include spot trading for cryptocurrencies last November, according to Bloomberg. In the past, the Italian bank has also collaborated with Intesa and Ripple Custody, formerly Metaco, to facilitate tokenized asset custody.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Italy reduced tax rates on crypto capital gains from 42% to around 26% last November after facing backlash from crypto industry players. Moreover, the Italian government announced that it will introduce selective rules for financial institutions working with crypto in the EU Market Crypto Asset Regulation, or MiCA.