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Bank of Italy to Publish Cryptocurrency Guidelines in “Next Days” — Governor — TradingView News
“In the coming days, the Italian Central Bank will publish guidelines on how to apply the new European Union rules on cryptocurrencies,” Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta said Tuesday.
According to the text of Panetta’s speech on July 9 to the Italian Banking Association, the guidelines will be “aimed at facilitating effective enforcement” of the EU’s Markets in Cryptocurrencies Regulation (MiCA) and “protecting holders” of certain cryptocurrencies.
He said that the MiCA outlines two main categories of tokens, namely asset reference tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs), which meet the requirements to be used in payments.
However, he noted that the Bank of Italy has found that only EMTs can “fully perform the function of a means of payment while maintaining public confidence.”
The value of an EMT is tied to a single official currency, such as a US dollar-backed stablecoin, while the value of an ART is pegged to one or more assets, such as the gold-backed token PAX Gold (PAXG).Coin’s Telegraph
Panetta cited Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as examples of what he called “unbacked cryptoassets,” which he said “have no intrinsic value” and “are effectively akin to gambling.”
He said that the “primary objective” of cryptocurrency investors is to sell their assets at higher prices and noted that they could use them to “evade tax rules or regulations in place to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.”