The biggest bank in Italy in terms of assets, Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, bought 11 Bitcoins on Monday for €1 million ($1.02 million).
This is the first time a credit institution in Italy has completed a direct cryptocurrency transaction, according to a report by Wired Italia.
The cryptocurrency acquisition and selling on the imageboard website 4Chan was initially reported by a few staff members of the biggest Italian bank.
On this Monday, Intesa Sanpaolo has eleven Bitcoins. Intesa Sanpaolo’s head of digital assets trading and investments, Niccolò Bardoscia, wrote in an email, “Thank you all for the teamwork.”
Bardoscia did not, however, provide any other details regarding Intesa Sanpaolo’s reasons for selecting Bitcoin or its upcoming cryptocurrency tactics. Whether the action indicates the bank’s intention to increase the scope of its crypto services is unknown.
Intesa Sanpaolo added spot trading for cryptocurrencies to the scope of its digital assets desk last November. Only cryptocurrency options, futures, and exchange-traded funds were previously traded by Italy’s largest lender. Spot trading isn’t operational yet, though.
Ripple Custody (previously Metaco) and Milan-based Intesa Sanpaolo have partnered to enable tokenized asset custody.
The action taken by Intesa reflects an increasing trend of conventional banking institutions investigating cryptocurrencies.
Italy’s Changes to Crypto Taxes
When the nation revised its crypto taxation regulations, with a special emphasis on Bitcoin (BTC) capital gains, the bank made its Bitcoin investment.
The Italian Senate confirmed a 26% tax rate for 2025 when it finalized the tax rates on cryptocurrency capital gains in December 2024. Additionally, a government plan to raise the withholding tax on Bitcoin profits to 33% in 2026 was passed by the parliament.
Intesa became the only institutional investor in the digital bond offering of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, an Italian development bank, in July 2024. The action was a major step toward Italy’s acceptance of digital assets.
Furthermore, the regulatory environment for crypto service providers throughout the EU has changed significantly with the adoption of the European MiCA Regulation.
Although not all nations have been able to do so, the European Union set a deadline of December 30 for its member states to implement MiCA.
The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) and the Bank of Italy are given important tasks in Italy under the MiCA Decree, the Legislative Decree of September 5, 2024. They are designated as the principal national authorities responsible for monitoring adherence to the provisions of MiCA.
