Digital asset regulation and tokenization in Italy

In Italy, businesses can issue specified financial instruments through digital registers and, through a separate route, provide MiCA crypto-asset services. The first possibility rests on Italian digital securities legislation; the second depends on the asset, service and applicant entity.

That distinction affects design: the register operator, issuer and intermediary can perform different functions. This guide connects those roles with CONSOB and Banca d’Italia, explains the rights created by entries and identifies preparation needed before operations.

How digital securities legislation differs from MiCA

Italy applies MiCA alongside Legislative Decree 129/2024, which organizes national responsibilities and procedures. Cryptoassets within the Regulation must be distinguished from excluded financial instruments. Services, ART and EMT issuance and offers of other cryptoassets follow different requirements; CASP authorization does not combine all of them.

Digital financial instrument issuance has an additional basis: Decree-Law 25/2023, converted by Law 52/2023. It governs issuance and circulation of specified categories through digital registers. This recognition must not be attributed to the 2024 MiCA decree or interpreted as permission to tokenize any asset with identical legal effects.

What CONSOB, Banca d’Italia and the registers each do

The allocation published by Banca d’Italia and CONSOB combines financial and market supervision. Identifying the correct authority requires more than the country: the applicant may be a bank, electronic money institution, investment firm or specialized provider. Responsibilities must be checked for each procedure and product.

OAM maintained the national register of certain providers during transition. Historical registration is not current MiCA authorization. CONSOB also maintains information on operators of registers for digital circulation, a function distinct from CASP services. Entry on one list does not establish entitlement to perform the other activities.

Which authorization or notification the entity needs

The official CASP guide states that CONSOB authorizes specialized providers after consulting Banca d’Italia. The central bank receives certain notifications from banks, electronic money institutions and asset managers; CONSOB receives those of investment firms, central securities depositories and market operators within their categories. Non-notifiable services require assessment of the corresponding authorization route.

Pre-application meetings allow presentation of the model but do not replace a decision or themselves alter procedural deadlines. Applications must identify services, governance, responsible persons, controls and resources. Statutory periods depend on documentary completeness and may be affected by information requests; they are not a fixed commercial launch promise.

The transitional period rested on Article 45 of Legislative Decree 129/2024, as amended by Decree-Law 95/2025, and was set out in the joint CONSOB and Banca d’Italia notice of July 2, 2025. It allowed VASPs registered with the OAM to continue until December 30, 2025, and, if before that date they had applied for CASP authorization in Italy or another Member State, or belonged to the group of a company that had applied, until the grant or refusal of authorization and in any event no later than June 30, 2026.

That period has ended. Current access must rest on authorization, an enabling notification or valid cross-border provision under MiCA. When the transitional period ended, CONSOB had authorized eight providers and one notified intermediary was also recorded, so the route is operational; CONSOB and the ESMA register publish the list of names.

Which legal effects digital registration produces

Decree-Law 25/2023 Article 2 covers categories including shares, bonds, certain debt instruments and units in Italian collective investment undertakings. Articles 3 and 5 govern register entries and their effects on exercising and disposing of rights. Protection against former holders' claims requires valid title and good faith; it does not follow from every blockchain transaction.

For issues outside a DLT settlement or trading and settlement system, Articles 18 and 19 provide for registered operators and specific conditions. The CONSOB digital issuance and circulation regulation, adopted by resolution 22923 of December 6, 2023, implements that framework and organizes the list of register operators into sections by type of entity. One of them is worth noting: an issuer with its registered office in Italy may register as a register operator, but only for the digital instruments it issues itself. Instrument validity, register maintenance and distribution or trading permissions must be separated. A security linked to real estate also does not imply direct ownership of that property.

Which functions register operations must support

Article 23 requires mechanisms to prevent use by unauthorized persons, maintain continuity and recovery and protect issuance integrity. It also requires public information on register operation and its transition strategy. Technical design must support these functions during incidents, provider changes and system replacement.

CASPs also face governance, asset protection, conflict and anti-money laundering obligations under the applicable framework. DORA governs resilience of covered financial entities, with exemptions. It does not impose an identical annual technical audit on every business using blockchain. Combined payment and EMT models are also subject to a specific rule set out in the same joint notice: transferring EMTs on behalf of clients, and safekeeping them where the wallet allows transfers to be sent and received, falls under PSD2, so the provider must also be authorized as a payment institution or act in partnership with an authorized one.

Intermediating the purchase of crypto-assets with EMTs, by contrast, is not a payment service. For tax purposes, Legislative Decree 194/2025, which transposes the EU directive on administrative cooperation applicable to crypto-assets (DAC8), requires reporting providers to carry out due diligence on their users and to report to the Agenzia delle entrate, by June 30 of the following year, the information for each period; the first period is 2026.

How to prepare issuance and services in Italy

For issuance, identify the instrument category under Decree-Law 25/2023 Article 2 and the register to be used. Document the issuer, holders, transfer and register operator’s role, verifying registration where required. Distribution and trading permissions require separate assessment.

For CASP services, actual functions and entity status determine authorization or notification and the competent supervisor. Technical preparation should cover integrity, continuity, recovery and register or provider transition. With the former OAM transition ended, verify current entitlement before onboarding clients or contracting intermediaries.

To understand how this framework applies to your project, discuss your case with our team.