For a long time, Italy had no clear crypto regulations. However, this situation has changed, and now this is one of the jurisdictions where Binance and many other exchanges got the regulator’s approval.
Country overview
#17
ItalyCountry stats
Rating Points
339
This indicator describes the overall rating of a given jurisdiction on several parameters according to cryptocurrency operations - market volume, crypto regulation, business climate, taxation framework.
Crypto Penetration
2.4%
Estimated percentage of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.
Legal Entities
73
Number of crypto companies registered in the country based on regulator data if available or other types of public data.
Regulation Points
120
An overall assessment of the granularity of crypto regulation in a given country. A high score is also given to countries where cryptocurrency transactions are highly regulated.
Amount of crypto users
1 418 400
Total amount of crypto users out of the country's total population based on public data.
Taxation points
16
This figure, according to our analysts' calculations, indicates the overall level of tax burden for cryptocurrency transactions in a given country. The higher the indicator, the lower the burden.
Market volume points
162.8
A rough estimate of this jurisdiction's retail crypto market relative to the rest of the world. The higher the indicator, the higher the market potential.
Status of crypto
Legally allowed
General status of cryptocurrency regulation in this jurisdiction.
Crypto payments
Legally allowed
The legal status of cryptocurrency payments for goods and services in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.
Security Level
Safe place
The overall level of security in a given country based on open data.
Crypto Salaries
No info
The legal status of cryptocurrency salaries to employers in a given country based on information from regulators, public data and feedback from our community.
Business Climate
Medium
Overall assessment of the friendliness of this country for crypto-business. This indicator takes into account the cost of obtaining a license and the attitude towards crypto entities in the country.
Stablecoin Regulation
Basic
This indicator is evaluating the regulation of stablecoins in a given country. Complex regulation means that it is possible to issue steiblcoins and obtain a license for this activity. Basic regulation means that the issuance of stablecoins is possible, but not all legal aspects are defined in the law. Standard regulation means that there is a legal practice of steylcoin circulation in a given country.
Bad Factors
No
This section describes the unfavorable economic factors for crypto-business in a given country. These are countries that are under sanctions or on the FATF grey list and other factors.
Types of licenses
Crypto-to-crypto
This license type allows VASP to provide legal exchange from one cryptocurrency to another.
Wallet/Custody
This country has a legal licensing procedure for companies that store cryptocurrency - - crypto wallet providers and custodians.
Crypto-to-fiat
This type of license regulates the exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat.
Good
Medium
Bad
According to our rating, Italy is a Safe place at the security level. Jurisdiction has 52.7 points (from 100) for safety level in Numbeo crime rating (1). The homicide level (2) is 0.5 per 100,000 inhabitants a year. Story of firearm-related death (3) 1.13 per 100,000 inhabitants a year.
The activities regulated by the new AML and tax legislation include transferring crypto assets and payments.
Below is a summary table relating to the tax treatment of some transactions with crypto-assets:
| Operation | Tax regime |
| Exchange between virtual currencies | Exempt |
| Using a crypto-asset to purchase a good or service | Taxed |
| Using virtual currency to buy an NFT | Taxed |
| Converting a virtual currency into Euros or other FIAT currencies | Taxed |
There needs to be a precise regulation for crypto salaries in Italy.
In Italy, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are considered financial instruments and fall under the supervision of the Bank of Italy. All VASPs must be registered by The Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) (4), a supervisory body in Italy that maintains lists of financial agents like credit mediators and money changers operating in the country.
Italian anti-money laundering law (Legislative Decree no. 231 ) defines "virtual currency" as "providers of services relating to the use of virtual currency" and "providers of digital wallet services.” For more details, see the Thomson Reuters guide (5).
The Decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) of January 13, 2022, published in the Official Gazette no. 40 of 17-02-2022 (6). There is a summary of this decree by Scorechain (7), which defines two types of licensed crypto entities:
Digital wallet service providers: any natural person or entity other than a natural person who provides on a professional basis, including online, services for safeguarding private cryptographic keys on behalf of its clients, for the purpose of holding, storing, and transferring virtual currencies;
Virtual currency service provider: any natural person or entity other than a natural person who provides on a professional basis, including online, services related to the use, exchange, storage of virtual currency and their conversion from or into legal tender or digital representations of value, including those convertible into other virtual currencies as well as the services of issuing, offering, transfer and clearing services, and any other services related to the acquisition, trading or interchange of such currencies;
The list of OAM-registered crypto companies (8) includes more than 73 legal entities like Binance, Coinbase, and Blockchain.com.
| Tax name | Index |
| PIT tax Min | 23 |
| PIT tax Max | 43 |
| Corporate tax (CIT) | 24 |
| Min Individual CGT (for crypto) | 26 |
| Max Individual CGT (for crypto) | 26 |
| Wealth tax Min | 0 |
| Wealth tax Max | 0 |
Italy's current crypto taxation review is based on the Koinly tax guide (9).
PIT
Previously, it was a tax exemption of €51,645.69. Now this rule is canceled and PIT according to PWC (10) has 23-43% tax rate.
CGT
This tax is applied as 26% on any crypto gains estimated to be more than 2,000 EUR
CIT
The same approach as foreign currency transactions for corporate crypto income. The general tax rate is 24%.
1)Crime Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year
2)List of countries by intentional homicide rate
3)List of countries by firearm-related death rate
4)The Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM)
6)Official Gazette no. 40 of 17-02-2022. PDF-file
7)Binance regulated in Italy: what is the state of crypto regulation? Article
8)List of OAM-registered crypto companies
9)Koinly tax guide. Italy Crypto Tax Guide 2023. Article