1.  How is crypto regulated?
  2. What are the steps taken by the regulator to adopt MiCAR?
  3.  Are the following activities regulated or unregulated in your jurisdiction? ― Exchange (buy/sell) ― Custody (hold) ― Borrowing/lending ― Yield/staking
  4. Can offshore business provide services to local customers on either active solicitation or reverse solicitation basis? 
  5. How long would establishing a cryptoasset business/obtaining a license in your jurisdiction take?
  6. What would be the approximate overall cost of obtaining a licence?
  7. What is the probability (%) of success in obtaining a licence?
  8. What other limitations are there in your jurisdiction when looking to set up a cryptoasset business? E.g., Compliance requirements and physical presence

jurisdiction

Italy

Disclaimer: This chapter was last updated on 15 July 2025 and does not reflect any subsequent developments. The information provided is intended for general informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice.

1. How is crypto regulated?

Jurisdiction-specific MiCAR implementation and deviationsAny other regulation

For the general MiCAR framework please click here.  

The Italian reference legislation is Legislative Decree No. 129 of 5 September 2024, which adapts national legislation to the MiCAR Regulation, as amended and supplemented by Legislative Decree 95/2025  (the “MiCAR Decree”).

Pursuant to Article 93 of MiCAR, the MiCAR Decree designates the Bank of Italy and Consob as the competent authorities, without prejudice to the Bank of Italy’s competence regarding issuers of electronic money tokens.

Prior to the implementation of MiCAR, the relevant legislation was Legislative Decree 231/2007 (the “AML Decree”), under which crypto-service providers were required to enrol in a registry maintained by the OAM (Organismo Agenti e Mediatori).

Under the interim regime provided by MiCAR and the MiCAR Decree, legal entities that, as of 27 December 2024, are duly registered in the special section of the register maintained by OAM and apply for authorisation under MiCAR by 30 December 2025 may continue to provide services related to virtual currencies or digital wallets in accordance with the same provisions until 30 June 2026, or until their MiCAR authorisation is granted or denied, whichever comes first.

Additionally, such entities do not need to apply for a MiCAR licence for crypto and digital wallet services if they belong to the same group as a company that applies for a MiCAR licence in Italy or another Member State by 30 December 2026.

Also the following law provisions are relevant for the provision of crypto-related services to Italian customers:

  • AML Decree, meaning legislative decree 231/2007,
  • Privacy Regulation, meaning the Legislative Decree 101/2018 implementing GDPR
  • Consumer Law, meaning legislative Decree n. 206/2005, as from time to time amended and supplemented.
  • Legislative Decree n. 385/1993 (Consolidated Banking Act) a in relation to e-money

2. What are the steps taken by the regulator to adopt MiCAR?

The MiCAR Decree has been approved.

Additionally, Consob and Bank of Italy issued instructions on how to request authorisation for CASPs, and various guidelines and notices on the decisions rendered by ESMA.

3. Are the following activities regulated or unregulated in your jurisdiction? ― Exchange (buy/sell) ― Custody (hold) ― Borrowing/lending ― Yield/staking

There are no departures from the MiCAR provisions.

Direct sales of tokens by issuers

  • Regulated if the tokens fall within MiCAR’s scope (i.e., ARTs, EMTs, or other crypto-
    assets).
  • Issuers must publish a white paper and may need authorisation, depending on
    the type of token, unless an exemption applies.


Exchange (buy/sell)

  • Regulated as a crypto-asset service under MiCAR.
  • CASPs offering exchange, broker and trading services in relation to crypto-assets
    must obtain a license to provide their services in the EU.
     

Custody (hold)

  • Regulated as a crypto-asset service under MiCAR.
  • CASPs that provide safekeeping or control of crypto-assets on behalf of clients—
    such as custodial wallet services or the custody of private cryptographic keys
    granting access to such assets— obtain a license to provide their services in the
    EU.


Borrowing/lending

  • MiCAR does not explicitly regulate borrowing and lending as a crypto-asset
    service under MiCAR.
  • MiCAR excludes lending and borrowing of crypto-assets, including e-money
    tokens, from its scope and does not affect applicable national laws governing
    such activities. As such, if these activities fall under other EU financial regulations
    (e.g., MiFID/CRD/CRR), they may be subject to additional rules at national level. In
    Italy at the moment the matter is not regulated.


Yield/staking services

  • Yielding/staking, which involves the process of immobilising crypto-assets to
    support the operations of proof-of-stake and proof-of-stake-like blockchain
    consensus mechanisms in exchange for the granting of validator privileges that
    can generate block rewards, is not explicitly regulated as a crypto-asset service
    under MiCAR.
  • However, a provider that offers staking services on behalf of clients—by directly
    interacting on a proprietary basis with a distributed ledger protocol to stake
    assets for validator privileges and block rewards, or by committing assets to a
    liquidity pool in exchange for yield—typically holds clients’ crypto-assets in
    custody. As a result, such providers must be authorised under MiCAR to provide
    custody and administration services of crypto-assets on behalf of clients.


Staking on proof of stake consensus mechanisms

  • Although staking under proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms is not explicitly
    classified as a regulated service under MiCAR, providers offering staking services
    on behalf of clients must obtain a license to provide custody and administration
    services if they hold clients’ crypto-assets in custody.
     

NFTs

  • MiCAR generally excludes non-fungible tokens (NFTs) unless they are part of a
    larger fungible series or collection, in which case they might be treated as
    regulated cryptoassets.

4. Can offshore business provide services to local customers on either active solicitation or reverse solicitation basis? 

AML RegulationFinancial Services Regulation

Same provisions of MiCAR.

Consob issued some resolutions in the past in relation to criteria for reverse solicitation in relation to the offering of financial instruments and services

Reverse solicitation YES 

on strict basis.

Active solicitation: NO

but he firm can seek authorisation as a CASP within the EU. 

5. How long would establishing a cryptoasset business/obtaining a license in your jurisdiction take?

Article 60 of MiCAR provides a simplified procedure for traditional financial operators already subject to regulation by facilitating their entry into the crypto assets market. Such operators can start offering services related to crypto assets following a mere notification, significantly reducing the time and cost required for market entry, instead of the authorization process under Article 62.

Entities benefiting from this facilitated treatment include credit institutions, central securities depositories, investment firms, electronic money institutions, UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Savings) management companies and market managers.

Outside of these cases, the procedure requires a minimum of circa 70 days and can easily need a longer timing.

6. What would be the approximate overall cost of obtaining a licence?

The costs for obtaining a license are mostly related to consultancy. Also, capital requirements are not considered in the analysis.

Additional costs accrue for the implementation of internal procedures and organisational measures.

7. What is the probability (%) of success in obtaining a licence?

High.

Major roadblocks could be seen in the ownership structure and credibility of business plan.

8. What other limitations are there in your jurisdiction when looking to set up a cryptoasset business? E.g., Compliance requirements and physical presence

Compliance requirements, capital requirements and, as said, shareholders/management reliability may result in practical limitations.