Bitcoin rose to $64,935.75 and ether to $1,913.13 Monday morning, even as both opened lower than Sunday.
Intesa Sanpaolo cut its BlackRock IBIT stake by 93.7% (to 40,723 shares) while tripling its staked Ethereum ETF holdings to 349,600 shares, per a July 31 SEC filing.
CryptoQuant reports Bitcoin whale holdings near 3.06 million BTC and Ethereum mega-whales adding 1.8 million ETH (+70%) since mid-2025, calling it a potential ‘final stage’ bear-market signal.
Crypto markets are sending mixed signals, and that’s exactly what makes this moment interesting. Bitcoin opened at $64,848.91 on Monday, down 0.1% from Sunday, before climbing to $64,935.75 by 8:43 a.m. ET. Ether opened at $1,908.93, down 0.3%, before ticking up to $1,913.13. These are actual recorded prices, not forecasts — and they sit well below both assets’ realized price benchmarks, according to CryptoQuant, which pegs Bitcoin’s realized price at $52.9K and ether’s at roughly $2,450.
Institutions and Whales Are Repositioning, Not Retreating
Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, disclosed in a July 31 SEC filing that it slashed its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by 93.7%, from 646,809 shares to just 40,723 shares valued at $1.36 million, while also cutting related call options by over 99% and adding a new put option covering 500,000 IBIT shares. At the same time, it tripled its holding in BlackRock’s staked Ethereum ETF from 116,200 to 349,600 shares, now worth about $7.1 million, up from $3.15 million. The bank kept its largest crypto position, 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF worth $67.6 million, nearly unchanged. Separately, CryptoQuant’s ‘Buying the Bear’ report finds Bitcoin whale holdings (ex-exchanges) have climbed to roughly 3.06 million BTC in 2026, while Ethereum’s 100k+ whale cohort has added about 1.8 million ETH, a 70% increase, since mid-2025 — even as smaller ETH holders keep distributing.
What This Means for Your Portfolio and Wallet
If you’re holding crypto through this chop, the divergence between institutional hedging (Intesa’s new put options) and whale accumulation matters. It suggests smart money sees value near current levels — BTC near $64K versus a $52.9K realized price floor — but isn’t ruling out further downside, hence the defensive options positioning.
Strategic Positioning & Defense Ideas
Given ongoing volatility, consider limiting crypto exposure to a portion of a diversified portfolio, favoring yield-generating structures like staked ETH products only after understanding lock-up and slashing risks, and keeping cash reserves for dollar-cost averaging. Disclaimer: This analysis is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or investment advice.
What to Watch Next
Watch upcoming 13F filings from other major banks and further CryptoQuant whale-flow updates for confirmation of a bear-market bottom. Full details via Yahoo Finance, CrowdfundInsider, and The Daily Hodl.
