Crypto Country GuideCrypto rules and tax, country by country

Italy: regulation

Last reviewed: October 2026

On this page
  1. Legal status and supervision
  2. Exchanges and KYC
  3. Stablecoins
  4. Crypto ATMs
  5. Scams and fraud
    1. Where to report, and what happens
  6. Self-custody
    1. If you lose access to your wallet
  7. Sources
  • CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia are Italy’s MiCA authorities. CONSOB grants the licenses, after consulting the Banca d’Italia.
  • Providers registered with the OAM under the old regime could continue until 30 June 2026 at the latest. Since 1 July 2026 only MiCA-licensed providers may serve Italian customers.
  • Check a provider in the ESMA register before you use it. Expect identity checks; for transfers above €1,000 to or from your own wallet, the provider must check whether that wallet is yours.
  • Stablecoins may only be offered in the EU if their issuer is authorized under MiCA. The ESMA register listed no Italian e-money token issuer on 7 October 2026.
  • CONSOB orders Italian internet providers to block websites that offer crypto services without a license. Report fraud to the Polizia Postale or any police office.
  • There is no rule to register a self-custody wallet, but it goes in quadro RW of your tax return.

This page covers who supervises crypto in Italy, what that means when you use an exchange, and the rules for your own wallet. Which exchanges may serve Italy is on exchanges; the tax side is on personal tax. It is general information, not legal advice.

Italy applies the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) through Legislative Decree 129 of 5 September 2024. It names CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa) and the Banca d’Italia as competent authorities. CONSOB authorizes crypto-asset service providers after consulting the Banca d’Italia, and supervises transparency, conduct and investor protection; the Banca d’Italia supervises risk, capital and sound management. The Banca d’Italia is also the main authority for issuers of e-money tokens. The EU-wide rules are explained on EU rules.

Before MiCA, providers of virtual currency and digital wallet services had to register in a special section of the register kept by the OAM (Organismo Agenti e Mediatori). Under the transitional regime, firms registered there on 27 December 2024 that applied for a MiCA license by 30 December 2025 could continue until 30 June 2026 at the latest, or until their application was decided (Legislative Decree 129/2024, Article 45). In a joint press release of 30 June 2026, CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia said that eight providers had been licensed in Italy (CheckSig, Conio, CryptoSmart, Hercle, Hodlie, Olliv Italia, Riv Digital and Young Platform), and that Banca Sella had notified the Banca d’Italia that it provides crypto services as a bank. Providers without a license “devono cessare la propria attività”, limited to closing existing customer relationships.

Exchanges and KYC

An exchange or custodian that serves customers in Italy needs a MiCA license, from CONSOB or from the regulator of another EU country that has passported it to Italy. CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia point to ESMA’s register of crypto-asset service providers and advise to “verificare con attenzione quale entità giuridica fornisce in concreto il servizio”. If your provider is not licensed, they advise moving your crypto to a licensed provider or to a wallet of your own. A comparison of the licensed exchanges, with their fees, is on exchanges.

Expect to be identified. Providers collect your name, address, tax residence and tax identification number, which they report to the Agenzia delle Entrate under DAC8 (see filing and deadlines). They must also send information about the sender and recipient with crypto transfers under the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (the travel rule), which has applied since 30 December 2024.

Stablecoins

MiCA has two kinds of stablecoins. An e-money token (EMT) references one official currency, such as the euro or the dollar. An asset-referenced token (ART) references another value or a mix of values. Since 30 June 2024 an EMT may only be offered to the public or admitted to trading in the EU by an issuer authorized as a bank or an e-money institution, and an ART only if the regulator has authorized its issuer. Holders of an EMT can always redeem it at face value, and issuers and providers may not pay interest on EMTs. In Italy the Banca d’Italia exercises MiCA’s precautionary and product intervention powers over EMTs (Legislative Decree 129/2024, Articles 6 and 8).

For stablecoins whose issuer is not authorized in the EU, ESMA said on 17 January 2025 that crypto service providers had to stop offering them for trading, with a “sell only” period until the end of March 2025 at the latest. ESMA did not name individual tokens. To check a stablecoin, look up its issuer in ESMA’s interim MiCA register of e-money token issuers. On 7 October 2026 it listed issuers in other EU countries, such as Circle Internet Financial Europe (France), but none in Italy, and the register of authorized ART issuers was empty. We did not find the issuer of USDT (Tether) in the register. Italy also taxes euro e-money tokens more lightly than other crypto from 2026; see personal tax.

Crypto ATMs

We found no statement by CONSOB or the Banca d’Italia specifically about crypto ATMs (October 2026). MiCA lists exchanging crypto for funds as a crypto-asset service, so an ATM operator needs a license like any other provider. One example in the ESMA register is Olliv Italia S.r.l., listed under the commercial name CoinFlip and licensed by CONSOB on 4 June 2026 for exchanging crypto-assets for funds. Before you use a machine, look up its operator in the register, and expect the same identity checks.

Scams and fraud

The Polizia Postale, the police unit for online crime, calls fake online trading in shares and crypto a growing crime and “la truffa che genera il profitto più cospicuo” among online frauds, and reminds readers that “i soldi facili non esistono”. Our own checklist of warning signs:

  • You are contacted unasked, by phone, social media or a chat group, with an offer of easy, high returns.
  • The platform is not in the ESMA register, or the company name in the contract differs from the licensed entity.
  • The platform shows growing profits, but to withdraw you are asked to pay fees or taxes first.
  • The website is on the list of sites CONSOB has ordered to be blocked, or appears on ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities.

Under Legislative Decree 129/2024 (Article 4), CONSOB can order internet providers, domain registrars, search engines, social networks and app stores to act against unlicensed crypto services. It uses this to black out websites, and reports them to ESMA: on 7 October 2026 ESMA’s list of non-compliant entities held 164 entries from CONSOB, the latest dated 15 September 2026.

Where to report, and what happens

  1. Stop paying and keep all evidence, such as messages, screenshots, wallet addresses and transaction IDs.
  2. Police. Fraud is a crime: file a complaint (denuncia) at a police office. The Polizia Postale takes reports and questions online through its Commissariato di P.S. online (commissariatodips.it). An online pre-complaint service (Denunce online, with SPID or CIE) was available only in a pilot in parts of Lazio when we checked.
  3. CONSOB and the Banca d’Italia. They receive complaints (esposti) about crypto providers under MiCA (Legislative Decree 129/2024, Article 7) and can act against unlicensed firms.
  4. Your bank, if you paid by bank transfer or card.

We found no Italian scheme that refunds money lost to a scam. A dispute with a licensed exchange is a different matter: see where to complain.

Self-custody

In the sources listed below we found no Italian rule that requires you to register a self-custody wallet. For tax it is not invisible, though: the reporting duty in quadro RW applies “indipendentemente dalle modalità di archiviazione e conservazione”, whether the crypto is in Italy or abroad, and the 0.2% holding tax applies to crypto on a USB stick, computer or phone (see personal tax).

The rules also reach you when you move crypto between a provider and your own wallet. For transfers above €1,000 to or from a self-hosted wallet, the provider must take adequate measures to assess whether the wallet is owned or controlled by its customer.

Holding crypto yourself means the keys are your responsibility. If you keep larger amounts of bitcoin in your own wallet, it is worth comparing a single hardware wallet with a multisig setup; this explanation of multisig versus single-sig sets out what each protects against.

If you lose access to your wallet

  • No deductible loss. The Agenzia delle Entrate says that losing your private keys, or having them stolen, does not give rise to a loss that counts for tax.
  • Quadro RW. Crypto does not have to be reported in quadro RW if you can show, with a report (denuncia) to a public security authority, that you lost the private keys or that they were stolen (Circular 30/E, section 3.4).

For the rest of your digital life, such as email, password managers and online accounts, see this introduction to planning a digital estate.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the official sources above before you act.