“From today, on January 13, 2025, Intetes Sanpaolo has 11 bitcoins.” This concise statement, found in an internal note examined by Reuters, has made rounds around the world. With active ingredients of around 1 billion of dollars, Intetesa Sanpaolo is the largest bank in Italy. The purchase, made via a owner negotiation office for the digital assets established by the lender in 2023, intervenes in the middle of a wave of institutional interest for Bitcoin.
Crypto enthusiasts celebrated the announcement as an additional proof of the preparation of digital currency for the general public adoption while the CEO of the bank, Carlo Messina, quickly minimized the investment as a simple test: “We want to be ready if particularly sophisticated customers find out about these investments options. “However, it is easy to consider the Intest Sanpaolo foray into cryptographic space as more than an experience for a limited number of demanding individuals.
Indeed, following the extremely successful launch of the first ETF Bitcoin in the United States last year and the recent increase in cryptocurrency beyond $ 100,000, the demand for practical and secure access has reached unprecedented levels. In addition, the newly inaugurated US President Trump has promised to reduce regulatory roadblocks for cryptocurrencies and has taken measures to establish “national storage of digital assets” with equality with the country’s strategic gold reserve. Bankers are very interested. Bank of America’s CEO Brian Moynihan, for example, said that industry would adopt crypto if appropriate railings were in place.
In the EU, Messina and its peers fight with a more prudent political and institutional environment. The Governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, says that cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and akin to a bet. Likewise, the European Central Bank has repeatedly warned the dangers of investing in digital currencies. The member of the ECB board of directors, Isabel Schnabel, pointed out during a question and answer session on X according to which the bank “is very unlikely to buy bitcoin”.
But large and small players could force the central bankers’ hand. Months before Intea Sanpaolo, BNP Paribas, the second largest European bank, revealed its exposure to Bitcoin via investment in an ETF.
The defenders of the crypto say that it is only a matter of time before the dam was broken.
