Italy boosts crypto risk oversight and toughens sanctions, draft shows

ROME (Reuters) – Italy plans to take measures to strengthen oversight of risks linked to crypto assets, including steep fines for those manipulating the market, a draft decision reviewed by Reuters showed on Thursday.

The decree, which is expected to be approved by the cabinet on Thursday, provides for fines of 5,000 to 5 million euros ($5,400-$5.4 million) for insider trading, illegal disclosure of inside information or market manipulation.

While central banks and international organizations warn that cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and pose a risk to macroeconomic and financial stability, worldwide research also shows that they can lead to fraud.

Operating within the framework set by a European regulation last year, the plan designates Italy’s central bank and market watchdog Consob as authorities overseeing cryptocurrency activities to maintain financial stability and ensure the “orderly functioning of markets.”

Cryptocurrencies allow people to send money around the world without using the main financial system.

The underlying blockchain technology creates a record of transactions where senders and recipients are identified only by their wallet addresses, which are a series of letters and numbers.

($1 = 0.9332 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Angelo Amante; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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