As the Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) rules took effect on 30 June, the Bank of Italy is set to release guidelines for Italian financial institutions.
Fabio Panetta, Governor of the Bank of Italy and Board of the European Central Bank, revealed that MiCA regulations may come into conflict with existing Italian financial laws.
Under MiCA ruling, issuers of electronic money tokens are required to comply, apply and hold ‘relevant authorisations’ – such as an Electronic Money Institute (EMI) licence for example – to carry out activities within the European Union.
However, asset-reference tokens also fall under MiCA’s remit, which comes into conflict with Italy’s financial laws as they do not facilitate a regulated means of payment.
Panetta revealed: “Our assessment is that the only instruments that can serve as means of payment fully preserving the public’s trust are EMTs, electronic money tokens, which can be issued by banks or electronic money institutions.”
Italy has taken a tougher stance on crypto and digital asset firms as of late, introducing new penalty measures to ensure the integrity of its financial system.
The country issued a document detailing that any companies who are found to have been manipulating the crypto market will be handed fines anywhere between €5,000 to €5m, taking into consideration the severity of the discretion.
The Bank of Italy also raised the issue of needing a regulatory framework for stablecoins as a cause for the potential financial instability they can bring to its national currency, the euro.
The EU has also expressed this concern, with MiCA now presiding over stablecoin issuers in the continent.
Under Article 23 of MiCA, crypto providers must not circulate and provide non-euro currencies as a means of exchange once or if that currency has surpassed one million transactions or holds a value of more than €200m per day.
This has ultimately led to crypto exchange Bitstamp delisting Tether’s EURT stablecoin, whilst Circle gained regulatory clearance via an EMI licence to begin providing its USDC and EURC stablecoins.
It is unclear whether Italy will progress with its own native crypto rules, but being a part of the EU, national crypto companies will have to comply with MiCA and also Italy’s new penalty compliance measures.