The unregulated spread of digital assets is a cause for concern and could have negative consequences, according to Paolo Savona, head of Italy’s securities market regulator Consob, Reuters reports.
The agency’s chairman called for stronger regulation. Otherwise, cryptocurrencies could facilitate illicit activity and undermine central banks’ ability to carry out monetary policy, the official said.
\”If it takes too long at the European level to find a solution, Italy will have to take its own measures,\” Savona said.
In 2016, authorities proposed a bill that would tax companies involved with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
In 2018, the Italian Treasury developed rules for regulating the industry. The document provided for mandatory registration of cryptocurrency companies and treated digital assets as a means of exchange for goods and services.
In June 2021, Pieter Hasenkamp, director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, urged to ban Bitcoin. The official cited security concerns and fraud risks.
Subsequently, Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that the authorities should regulate digital assets, as such restrictions would only harm.
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