According to Bloomberg, Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, is expanding the functions of its digital assets department and plans to add cryptocurrency spot trading. According to informed sources, the bank established a dedicated crypto trading department within its corporate and investment banking sector in 2023, initially only engaging in crypto trading for options, futures, and ETFs. Although spot trading has not yet commenced, internal approvals and technical systems are in place, with a four-person team led by quantitative trader Niccolò Bardoscia. Intesa has partnered with Ripple Custody (formerly known as Metaco) to build custody functions for tokenized assets.