Italy’s central bank will soon publish guidelines on how to apply the European Union’s crypto regulations “in the coming days,” Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta announced on Tuesday.

These guidelines aim to “facilitate the effective application” of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and to “protect the holders” of certain cryptocurrencies, according to the text of Panetta’s July 9 speech to the Italian Banking Association.

He stated that MiCA classifies two main types of tokens — asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs) — as meeting the requirements to be used in payments.

However, he noted that the Bank of Italy finds only EMTs can “fully perform the function of a means of payment while maintaining public trust.”

The value of an EMT is linked to a single official currency — such as a US dollar-backed stablecoin — whereas an ART’s value is pegged to one or more assets, such as the gold-backed token PAX Gold (PAXG).

Panetta speaking at an Italian Banking Association meeting on July 9. Source: YouTube

Panetta named Bitcoin and Ether as examples of what he called “unbacked crypto-assets,” which he claimed “have no intrinsic value” and “are in effect akin to a gamble.”

He claimed the “main objective” of crypto investors is to sell their assets at higher prices and noted they may use them to “dodge tax rules or the regulations in place to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.”

“Clearly, they do not possess the characteristics that make them suited to perform the three inherent functions of money: a means of payment, store of value, and unit of account,” he added.

Panetta said the number of investors in “unbacked” cryptocurrencies who might not know their risks is “low, but not negligible,” and their numbers “could grow in the future.”

In late June, Reuters reported the Italian government was set to increase surveillance on crypto markets to comply with MiCA.

A decree showed it plans on fines ranging from 5,000 euros ($5,400) to 5 million euros ($5.4 million) for violations ranging from market manipulation to insider trading.

Source: Cointelegraph