Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest bank, disclosed a $966.42 million stake in SpaceX just weeks after slashing its exposure to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.

The shift marks a clear pivot from direct crypto exposure toward an indirect bet through traditional equities.

SpaceX Stock Gets Confidence from Banks

According to the filing submitted on August 4, Intesa acquired 5.66 million SpaceX shares. The position became the largest in the bank’s entire US portfolio.

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The stake represents roughly 33% of the $2.92 billion the bank holds in US-listed assets. SpaceX went public on June 12. Elon Musk’s company holds 18,712 BTC on its corporate balance sheet.

That reserve gives Intesa indirect exposure to Bitcoin, even as it scaled back its direct ETF bet elsewhere in the same filing.

The bank was far from alone in targeting SpaceX this quarter. Harvard Management Company disclosed a $2.2 billion stake, its largest individual holding, surpassing Amazon, TSMC, and NVIDIA.

The University of California’s investment fund also revealed a position worth nearly $1 billion. Both universities joined a small group of early institutional shareholders.

Why Intesa Retreated From Its Bitcoin ETF

Intesa’s crypto retreat proved equally dramatic. The bank cut its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by 94%, reducing it from 646,809 to 40,723 shares.

That remaining stake was worth only $1.36 million at the end of June. Intesa also eliminated roughly 99% of its outstanding IBIT call options.

In its place, it acquired a put option covering 500,000 shares, a contract that gains value as the ETF’s price continues to fall. The bank did retain 3.47 million shares in the ARKB ETF, however.

Broader market context explains part of the shift. Bitcoin fell 14% during the second quarter, its third consecutive quarterly decline, while US spot BTC ETFs recorded net outflows of $4.89 billion during the same period, according to SoSoValue data.

SpaceX shares currently trade near $142.46 in pre-market, after touching a record low of $108.27 in early August. The stock had earlier climbed above $225 shortly after its Nasdaq market debut.

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That volatile ride has not stopped Intesa, Harvard, and the University of California from holding substantial positions in Musk’s space company, betting on long-term gains despite the swings.

Source: BeInCrypto