Between May 23 and 26, 2019, the European Union's citizens are renewing their continental parliament. Among the countries that will participate in the poles is Italy (voting on May 26) — one of the founding members of the EU, alongside France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Due to the very nature of cryptocurrencies, it's tough to get a correct figure of the actual penetration of these technologies in a single country. However, relying on some proxies — as in the chart below — it is likely that the Bel Paese (the Beautiful Country) would fall outside the leading European group.

crypto and blockchain have become relevant topics for Italian institutions, political movements, business world and public opinion. This interest has been raised during the last few months, and it's very likely that these issues will become more and more relevant during the weeks immediately after the European elections, when some significant novelties are scheduled.

Unknown by the law

No specific regulation prevents Italian citizens from owning, buying or selling, or using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. However, cryptocurrencies are still a somewhat mysterious entity for Italian legislation and fiscal practice.

The Italian central bank, Banca d'Italia (the Bank of Italy), issued a first warning about "virtual currencies" at the beginning of 2015, defining them as "digital representations of a value [...] created by private subjects who operate on the Web." The risks that the bank pinpointed, for instance, included: the lack of information about these tools, the absence of any specific regulation, surveillance or guarantee, high volatility, and the possibility to be involved in illicit activities (such as international terror or money laundering).