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One of Italy's Largest Banks Buys $1M Worth of Bitcoin: Report

Banking giant Intesa Sanpaolo, which has a market cap of $73 billion, has made its first crypto purchase.

Updated Jan 14, 2025, 1:43 p.m. Published Jan 14, 2025, 11:05 a.m.
Italy (Tanya Lapko / Unsplash)
Italy (Tanya Lapko / Unsplash)

What to know:

  • Italy's largest bank by assets, Intesa Sanpaolo, has purchased 11 BTC worth $1 million.
  • Intesa set up a proprietary trading desk for digital assets back in 2023

Bitcoin , continues to get further entrenched into the traditional finance system. Italy's largest bank by assets, Intesa Sanpaolo, has bought 11 BTC for over $1 million, according to a Reuters report.

Reuters saw an internal message that said, "As of today, Jan. 13, 2025, Intesa Sanpaolo owns 11 bitcoins".

Intesa Sanpaolo currently has a market capitalization of roughly $73 billion, putting it at 247 out of the top 250 most valuable companies. The share price is slightly higher today, up over 2%.

According to Reuters, Intesa has had a proprietary trading desk in place for the past few years and also handles spot trading for other cryptocurrencies.

BTC is up 2% on Tuesday, trading over $96,500, after plunging over 5% on Monday, touching a low of around $89,400.

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