Intesa Cuts IBIT 94% and Triples Staked ETH-Bitcoin Hedge or Alpha Rotation?

IBIT cuts look smaller once you include the options reset

The numbers that actually matter

The headline move is the 93.7% reduction in IBIT common shares, from 646,809 to 40,723. Just as important, Intesa cut reported calls from 2.50 million shares to 18,000 and added a put position tied to 500,000 IBIT shares. Taken together, that looks less like a full retreat and more like a shift from broad upside exposure toward a more protected setup.

Why the interpretation is still split

The bearish read is straightforward: nearly all of the call exposure disappeared, and the new put block could signal softer expectations for Bitcoin. The more balanced read is that this was a portfolio reset rather than a blanket liquidation of crypto risk. Intesa still held 3.47 million ARKB shares, and it increased its staked Ethereum holding from 116,200 to 349,600 shares. A bank exiting digital-asset risk broadly would likely have trimmed much more than just IBIT.

Why the filing limits the story

A few qualifiers matter. This was a June 30 quarter-end snapshot, so the filing shows what was held at month-end rather than the sequence of trades that got Intesa there. The disclosure also cannot reveal the bank's net exposure. For that reason, the move is better understood as a reset in disclosed crypto ETF positioning rather than a definitive signal about Intesa's broader view on Bitcoin.