Italy's Intesa buys 1 million euros in bitcoin in first proprietary trade

Illustration shows Intesa Sanpaolo Bank logo · Reuters

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo on Monday completed its first proprietary bitcoin trade investing 1 million euros ($1.03 million) into the world's largest digital currency, an internal memo showed.

Intesa set up a proprietary trading desk for digital assets in 2023 and last year started handling spot trades with cryptocurrencies.

"As of today, Jan. 13, 2025, Intesa Sanpaolo owns 11 bitcoin," the internal message, of which Reuters saw a copy, said.

Bitcoin more than doubled in value in 2024, driven by the U.S. markets regulator's approval for exchange-traded funds tied to its spot price, and optimism over easing regulatory hurdles under incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.

As bitcoin flirts with the $100,000 mark, some analysts expect it to more than double in value by the end of this year.

Monday's Intesa trade was first reported by Italian daily La Stampa. ($1 = 0.9747 euros)