The list of Bitcoin investment organizations has just been extended by Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest banking group, with a purchase of 1 million USD in Bitcoin.
Italy's largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo buys 1 million USD in Bitcoin
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest banking group, is known to have purchased 11 BTC for around 1 million euros, equivalent to 1 million USD. This is the group's first investment in cryptocurrencies.
Information about the investment has been leaked on an online forum, after which the bank's press office officially confirmed it.
According to the leaked internal email, the Bitcoin purchase was approved by Niccolò Bardoscia, head of the Digital Asset Trading and Investment division of Intesa Sanpaolo.
However, the bank only confirmed the purchase, but did not disclose the investment rationale, nor did it reveal anything about its upcoming crypto-related strategy.
Intesa Sanpaolo is considered a progressive bank in terms of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Previously in July 2024, Italy's top two banks, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo, collaborated to pilot digital bonds worth 27.2 million USD on Polygon.
This move is part of an experiment organized by the European Central Bank (ECB) to find new ways to apply CBDC in large-scale blockchain transactions.
News about Bitcoin investments by large institutions has become all too familiar to the cryptocurrency community. Software company MicroStrategy is a pioneer leading this trend, having maintained a steady pace with 10 consecutive weeks of Bitcoin purchases.
Following MicroStrategy's example, many other organizations have not hesitated to "go all in" on Bitcoin, such as the "Asian MicroStrategy" Metaplanet or Semler Scientific, which recently acquired an additional 237 BTC at a price of 95,972 USD.
Top public companies holding Bitcoin. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.com
Compiled by Coin68