The Bank of Italy is looking for new ways to apply distributed ledger technology (DLT) and is preparing for the advent of Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, bank governor Ignazio Visco told a congress of Assiom Forex, the Italian financial markets association, on Feb. 4. DLT may offer benefits such as cheaper cross-border transactions and increased financial system efficiency, Visco said. The Italian central bank “is focused on the need to identify areas” where DLT can contribute to financial stability and consumer protection. Visco expressed the desire to see regulations that sorted out the crypto-asset market to separate “highly risky …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to all criminal charges he’s facing, including wire fraud, securities fraud and violations of campaign finance laws. In total, the entrepreneur faces eight criminal counts, which could result in 115 years in prison should he be convicted. Meanwhile, Daniel Friedberg, the controversial lawyer who served as top compliance chief at FTX, has reportedly cooperated with prosecutors and provided them with his knowledge of SBF’s use of customer funds to finance his illegal business scheme. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has formed the FTX Task …

Days before the year's end, Italy's Senate approved its budget for 2023 on Dec. 29, 2022, which included an increase in taxation for crypto investors — a 26% tax on capital gains on crypto assets trading over 2,000 euros (approximately $2,131 USD at time of publication .) The approved legislation defined crypto assets as "a digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or similar technology." Previously, crypto assets were treated as foreign currencies in the country, with lower taxes. As reported by Cointelegraph, the bill also established that taxpayers will …

In this week’s newsletter, read about investment giant Fidelity planning to enter the nonfungible token (NFT) space and how Italy’s NFT market will grow. Check out how North Korean hackers use phishing websites to target NFT holders and listen to a conversation with Crypto Raiders in the NFT Steez podcast. And, don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring Japanese gaming firm Square Enix investing millions in an NFT game developer. Fidelity plans NFT marketplace and financial services in the metaverse On Dec. 21, investment firm Fidelity filed three trademark applications to the United States Patent Trademark Office. The trademark filings …

Italy is one of the cultural hubs of Europe, with centuries of history, art and culture. Now it is also posed to create the crypto art Renaissance via its nonfungible token (NFT) market, says a new report. Data from Research and Market’s “Italy NFT Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook” says the country is projected to have a growth of 47.6% in its NFT market by the end of 2022. This would make the Italian NFT market hover around a $671 million valuation. Moreover, over the next five years, Italy’s NFT industry is forecasted to have a steady upward …

Welcome to Law Decoded, your weekly digest of all the major developments in the field of regulation. There was some substantial good news for crypto last week, but the prevailing storyline is still the unfolding of FTX. While the extradition of the failed exchange’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried seemed pretty logical from the beginning of the saga, last week, the 30-year-old got the first official call: The Texas State Securities Board (SSB) invited the former CEO to attend the hearing on the alleged sale of unregistered securities on Feb. 2. SSB’s director of enforcement Joe Rotunda hopes to get a Cease …

RBB Lab, a technology development firm based in the Republic of San Marino, has utilized nonfungible token (NFT) technology to issue a court summons to a former employee and a contractor. RBB Lab CEO Enrico Rubboli told Cointelegraph that it summoned the two individuals to the Judiciary of Italy on claims of attempted extortion and aggravated defamation of the firm. The summons was “an order restriction that we are asking them to stop this campaign against us,” said Rubboli. This is the first time that an NFT has been used to deliver a court summons in Italy. If this technology …

The Ministry of Economic Development of Italy has announced that certain blockchain projects will qualify to apply for up to $46 million in government subsidies starting from September. In a Tuesday announcement, the Ministry said companies and public or private research firms will be able to apply for funding from the government for the development of projects related to artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and blockchain technology. The fund will have an initial budget of 45 million euros — roughly $46 million at the time of publication — for expenses and costs from 500 thousand (worth $512,150) to 2 …

On Tuesday, Borsa Italiana — Italy’s stock exchange — listed a “Bitcoin-thematic” exchange-traded fund (ETF) by Melanion Capital, bringing Bitcoin (BTC) exposure to Italian institutions and retirement plans. Cyril Sabbagh, managing director of Melanion Capital, told Cointelegraph that “The Melanion BTC Equities Universe UCITS ETF is an equity ETF around stocks in the crypto ecosystem.” He explained that the ETF would be “accessible to as many people as possible.” “The Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana) has not accepted any ‘spot ETFs’ but welcomes our thematic ETF!” Following the successful launch of a Bitcoin-thematic ETF in October 2021 on Euronext Paris, …

One of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, strengthened its European presence by obtaining registration and regulatory approval in Italy. A Binance company had previously registered to operate in France at the beginning of May. On Friday, the exchange’s official blog reported that Binance Italy has received regulatory approval in the country through registration as a Cryptocurrency Service Provider with Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), as required by Italian legislation. The registration allows Binance to offer crypto products to its customers in Italy in compliance with local regulations as well as to open offices and expand the local team. In …

Crypto investment giant Grayscale is expanding operations by launching a new crypto-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Europe. Grayscale officially announced its first European ETF, called Grayscale Future of Finance UCITS ETF, on Monday. A spokesperson for Grayscale told Cointelegraph that the ETF will begin trading on Tuesday. The new investment product is getting listings on major European stock exchanges, including the London Stock Exchange, Borsa Italiana as well as Deutsche Börse’s electronic trading platform Xetra. Listed under the ticker symbol GFOF, the ETF will also be passported for sale across Europe. An exciting milestone: Announcing our first European ETF, Grayscale …

Italian professional soccer club AC Milan will be releasing its first-ever nonfungible token (NFT) project in collaboration with the BitMEX crypto exchange, with proceeds going to Fondazione Milan, the clubs' charity arm. The limited-edition collection will feature 75,817 NFTs, a number representative of the capacity of the club's home ground San Siro stadium, and will depict a 3D image of a jersey found in South Sudan by Danish war photographer Jan Grarup who was in the country documenting widespread flooding last December. BitMEX partnered with AC Milan to contribute to the project by providing trading discounts and “other benefits” to …