Bank of Italy Prepares to Unveil MiCA Regulation Application Guidelines

• A transcript of Panetta’s address to the Italian Banking Association on July 9 shed light.
• The application of impending EU regulations would be published in the coming days.

On Tuesday, July 9, Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta said that direction on the application of impending European Union crypto regulations would be published “in the coming days” by the central bank of Italy.

A transcript of Panetta’s address to the Italian Banking Association on July 9 states that the regulations would “protect the holders” of some cryptocurrencies and “aim at facilitating an effective application” of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

According to him, asset-reference tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs) are the two main types of tokens that MiCA specifies as being suitable for usage in payments.

Criticizing Unbacked Crypto Assets

Nevertheless, he did mention that the Bank of Italy has determined that EMTs are the only ones capable of completely performing the means of payment function while maintaining the public’s trust.

The value of an EMT is tied to a single official currency, like a stablecoin backed by the US dollar, but the value of an ART is tied to one or more assets, such as the PAX Gold (PAXG) token, which is backed by gold.

Panetta used Bitcoin and Ether to illustrate his point against “unbacked crypto-assets,” which he said are like gambling because they lack intrinsic worth.

Moreover, he said that crypto investors might use their assets to evade tax restrictions or legislation intended at combating money laundering and terrorist funding, and that their primary goal is to sell their holdings at greater prices.

They obviously don’t have what it takes to be money, which is to say, a medium of exchange, a store of value, and an accounting unit, he said.

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