The Bank of Italy is looking for new ways to apply distributed ledger technology (DLT) and is preparing for the advent of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, bank governor Ignazio Visco said at an Assiom Forex congress, the italian association of financial markets. , on February 4.
DLT may offer benefits such as cheaper cross-border transactions and increased financial system efficiency, Visco said. The Italian central bank “is focused on the need to identify areas” where DLT can contribute to financial stability and consumer protection.
Visco expressed the desire to see regulations that resolve the crypto-asset market to separate “high-risk instruments and services that divert resources from productive activities and collective well-being” from those that provide tangible benefits to the economy:
“The spread of the latter can be fostered by developing rules and controls similar to those already applied in the traditional financial system; the former, however, should be strongly discouraged.”
Visco specifically mentioned “crypto assets with no intrinsic value” among the first group.
CB Speech: Ignazio Visco (IT): Speech – 29th ASSIOM FOREX Congress – https://t.co/sDpA90yT5l
— Bank for International Settlements (@BIS_org) February 6, 2023
The Bank of Italy is working at a European and global level to develop the technology and a standards framework, Visco said. He is also collaborating with the Italian stock market regulator CONSOB and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to initiate MiCA’s “authorization and supervision activities.”
Related: EU postpones final vote on MiCA for second time in two months
Italy recently imposed a 26% capital gains tax on trading crypto assets over €2,000 in 2023. However, Italian taxpayers have the option to pay a 14% tax on their crypto asset holdings as of January 1. This alternative is intended to incentivize taxpayers to declare their digital holdings.
Visco estimated the number of Italian households holding crypto assets at 2%, saying those holdings were “modest amounts on average.”
This post Bank of Italy selectively encourages DLT, preparing for MiCA, says governor
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