Between May 23 and 26, 2019, the European Union’s citizens are renewing their continental parliament. Among the countries that will participate in the poles is Italy (voting on May 26) — one of the founding members of the EU, alongside France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Due to the very nature of cryptocurrencies, it's tough to get a correct figure of the actual penetration of these technologies in a single country. However, relying on some proxies — as in the chart below — it is likely that the Bel Paese (the Beautiful Country) would fall outside the leading European group. …

A direct descendant of an Italian dynasty that ran a banking empire in the 1400s is launching a new bank focusing on “digital-centric commerce and investing,” according to a news release published on May 8. Prince Lorenzo de’ Medici, president of the eponymous Medici Bank, said he has been motivated by advancements in blockchain technology to start the new venture, which aims to “create seamless, digital customer experiences and expand financial opportunity across global markets.” He argued that little innovation has come from the banking sector ever since his family’s original institution, the Florence-based Banco de’ Medici, pioneered the use …

63% of Europeans are confident that crypto will still exist in 10 years, according to new research from bitFlyer. London-based fintech publication FStech reported on the survey on April 24. Tokyo-based crypto exchange bitFlyer, which was licensed to operate in the European Union in 2018, reportedly polled 10,000 respondents in Europe to find out what they think about cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC). The exchange reportedly surveyed the following ten countries: the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain. When asked about crypto in general, the majority of Europeans claimed that they believe that crypto …

The Italian Banking Association (ABI) is now testing a blockchain interbank solution based on blockchain consortium R3’s open-source distributed ledger platform Corda, fintech news outlet FinExtra reports on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The ABI states that the platform has been developed together with its technical partners — R3, Japanese IT firm NTT Data and Italian ICT company Sia. The project, dubbed “Spunta,” is reportedly now being tested by 18 banks that represent 78 percent of the Italian banking sector by number of employees. As Cointelegraph previously reported, the blockchain-powered interbank system by the ABI successfully passed the initial phase of testing …

The Italian House of Representatives has approved a bill defining distributed ledger technologies (DLT) such as blockchain, Cointelegraph Italy reported on Feb. 7. With 275 votes in favor, 206 against and 27 abstentions, the bill dubbed “Semplificazioni” has moved forward. The Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale will now define the technical criteria that smart contracts will have to comply with in order to have legal validity. Maria Laura Mantovani, a member of the Italian Parliament in the Movimento 5 Stelle party, told Cointelegraph Italy that a favorable use case for blockchain is its application in online voting. However, Mantovani noted that …

The Italian postal service provider, Poste Italiane, has joined the Hyperledger blockchain community, Cointelegraph Italia reported on Jan. 29. Hyperledger is a collaborative project led by the Linux Foundation which aims to create open-source standards for blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). It includes several industry leaders, including American Express, Cisco, Intel , JPMorgan, Deloitte and Huawei. Poste Italiane stated in a press release that joining Hyperledger is consistent with the service’s Deliver 2022 Business Plan. Part of the plan involves the acquisition and acceleration of new technology in the agency’s operations. The announcement draws particular attention to data protection, …

Francesco Firano, the owner and founder of hacked Italian cryptocurrency exchange BitGrail, has been sentenced to return as much of the assets to his customers as possible. Scans of the court decision were released by the Bit Grail Victims Group (BGVG) on Medium on Jan. 28. The Italian Bankruptcy Court published the sentence on Jan. 21. A post by the BGVG published the same day as the court sentence explains that “the court concluded that both Bitgrail and Mr. Firano, personally, be declared bankrupt, authorizing seizures of many of Mr. Firano’s personal assets.” According to the post the Italian authorities …

The Italian securities regulator, Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB), has added crypto company Togacoin to its scam blacklist on Jan. 28. The regulator released its warning against Togacoin alongside similar warnings concerning binary options company Smart Choice Zone and forex exchange Fx Breeze. The three firms have been added to the CONSOB’s warning list because of failing to obtain authorization to operate in Italy. Togacoin’s website features a “Revenue Calculator” that promises a return of 239% in one year, a 654% return in three years and a 33-page white paper. The website also outlines the company’s …

The Italian Senate committee has approved an amendment on blockchain industry regulation, Cointelegraph Italia reports on Jan. 24. The amendment, known as the “Decreto semplificazioni,” has been approved by the Senate committees of Constitutional Affairs and Public Works yesterday, Jan. 23, and reportedly represents the first regulatory move in the blockchain space by the Italian government. The amendment provides basic industry terms such as distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based technologies and smart contract definitions, according to the publicly available document on the Senate’s website. The document also states that a blockchain-powered digital data record will enable a legal validation of documents …

The Italian government has published its list of 30 blockchain high-level experts to further its integration of the technology at state level, Cointelegraph Italy reported Dec. 27. The result of a four-month hiring and consultation process, the group will work for free advising authorities how to create a “national strategy on distributed register and blockchain technologies.” The project is being convened by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MSE). “Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain are intended to radically change our lives, the society in which we live and the economic and productive fabric of the country,” …

The financial regulator of Italy has barred a cryptocurrency-related project from operations for the provision of allegedly unauthorized investment services, according to an official statement published Dec. 14. Founded in 1974, the Italian National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange — or Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) — is the government authority of Italy responsible for regulating the Italian securities market. The company prohibited by the CONSOB, Avacrypto, allegedly offered its services to the Italian public without the required authorization, including operating through the website www.avacrypto.com. At press time, Avacrypto’s website is not accessible. Earlier …

The Italian securities regulator has suspended two projects for allegedly offering fraudulent crypto investment schemes. The 90-day suspensions were reported in an official statement on the regulator’s website published Monday, Dec. 17. The Italian Companies and Exchange Commission — or Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) — is the Italian analogue of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and represents a governmental authority that regulates the Italian securities market. Both firms suspended by the CONSOB — Bitsurge Token and Green Energy Certificates — are allegedly scam projects from Avalon Life, a company that is not …