Cryptoassets Regulatory Intelligence

Italy (IT) · Module Detail

Italy: Stablecoin Regime

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Stablecoins (EMT/ART) are regulated directly under MiCA Titles III/IV. Banca d'Italia is the Italian competent authority for e-money token issuer authorisation in most cases, in consultation with Consob. Italian banks (notably Banca Sella) are active participants in EU-wide MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin initiatives (Qivalis), though the issuing entity is being licensed in the Netherlands rather than Italy. Banca d'Italia has published applied research on stablecoin efficiency for remittances and on AML risks associated with stablecoins.

Open gap — crypto-int-2Legal-force instrument behind the CONSOB/ESMA non-compliant-stablecoin wind-down direction (circular, communication or informal relay) was not confirmed this cycle.tax_treatment and cross_border_transfer are structurally thin across the estate per bias-correction guidance.
Standing sub-brief · as of 25 August 2026126 words · last cycle 2026-10-18

Stablecoin Regime

MiCA's directly-applicable asset-referenced-token and e-money-token issuance-authorisation regime governs stablecoin issuance in Italy, and no national gold-plating of that regime was identified this cycle. No Italy-domiciled significant stablecoin issuer has been identified. The regime nonetheless acquired a sharper edge this cycle: the EU's 20th sanctions package, effective 24 May 2026, designated the Russian state-linked A7A5 stablecoin as a sanctions-evasion vehicle and banned transactions between EU persons and Russian- or Belarusian-established crypto-asset service providers. This bears directly on the compliance posture of Italy's CASP population even though no domestic issuer is implicated.

Periodic update · new data 2026-10-18

Stablecoin Regime

CONSOB relayed a European Securities and Markets Authority supervisory opinion to Italian crypto-asset service providers between 16 and 18 October 2026, directing them to halt new client acquisitions of stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA's e-money-token and asset-referenced-token standards under Title III and Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, and to manage down any residual non-compliant positions within a three-month window. This represents a tightening of supervisory tolerance for non-compliant stablecoin holdings among Italian CASPs, moving from what had been, implicitly, a more permissive transitional posture toward active enforcement of MiCA's stablecoin compliance perimeter.

The legal force of this direction has not been established this cycle: it may constitute a binding circular issued by CONSOB, an informal supervisory communication relaying ESMA's opinion without independent binding force under Italian law, or something in between. CASPs operating in Italy should not treat the three-month wind-down window as a confirmed binding deadline until this question is resolved, though the direction of supervisory travel — away from tolerating non-compliant stablecoin exposure — is clear regardless of the instrument's precise legal status.

A separate, negative finding bears on the same regime: as of 7 October 2026, no Italian entity was listed on ESMA's register of authorised e-money-token issuers. This indicates that, as of the most recent check, no Italian issuer has itself obtained e-money-token authorisation status, meaning the stablecoin compliance question for Italian CASPs this cycle concerns which third-party-issued stablecoins they may hold or transact in, rather than any Italian-issued stablecoin needing to come into compliance. This negative finding was sourced from a lower-tier secondary source and has not been independently verified against ESMA's own register.

Outlook

The most consequential open question is the legal-force status of the ESMA-relayed wind-down direction; its resolution would determine whether the three-month window (running to approximately mid-January 2027 if the direction dates from mid-October 2026) is an enforceable deadline or a supervisory expectation without independent binding force in Italy. Separately, watch for whether any Italian entity moves toward e-money-token issuer authorisation on ESMA's register, which would be the first such Italian-issued stablecoin development under the MiCA framework.

1 further periodic run re-emitted the standing brief unchanged and is not shown.

Sources and findings (5)
  1. T1 · ESMAESMA — Banca d'Italia is the authorising competent authority (in consultation with Consob) for credit institutions and e-money institutions seeking to issue e-money tokens or provide related crypto-asset services beyond Article 60 MiCA scope.retrieved M4bindingin force
  2. T1 · Banca d'Italia (via BIS Central Bank Speeches)Banca d'Italia (via BIS Central Bank Speeches) — MiCA requires stablecoin issuers to guarantee redemption of single-currency stablecoins at par without imposing fees, a requirement applicable to EMT issuance authorised in Italy, in contrast with US rules that permit charging users for redemption of payment stablecoins.retrieved M4bindingin force
  3. T3 · CoinDeskCoinDesk — Banca Sella, an Italian bank, is a founding member of Qivalis, a group of 37 European banks aiming to issue a euro-denominated MiCA-compliant stablecoin, with the issuing entity being licensed and supervised by the Dutch central bank as an e-money institution rather than by Banca d'Italia.retrieved M3non-binding
  4. No Italy-domiciled or Italy-designated systemically important ART or EMT has been identified in current research.M2non-bindingour coverage gap, expected to resolve on a re-run
  5. T3 · CoinDeskCoinDesk — Bank of Italy research testing 200 USDC remittances across 10 international payment corridors found total costs ranged from 0.3% to almost 9% of the amount sent, concluding stablecoins have not yet eliminated costly 'last mile' conversion frictions despite on-chain speed advantages.retrieved M2non-binding