Cryptocurrencies as “fungible digital assets” within the Italian legal system: regulatory and private law issues

The essay provides a comprehensive overview of cryptocurrencies within the Italian legal framework and, taking its cue from the current regulatory landscape, deepens their most salient regula-tory and private law aspects. More specifically, the first part draws a description of the evolu-tion of AML regulation relating to cryptocurrencies, where the notion of “digital currency” first appeared within Italian law. Besides, the essay considers issues related to cryptocurrencies legal qualification – among financial instruments, products or means of payments – also in the light of the roles and functions of providers of custody and exchange services. Having analyzed those topics, the core of this paper deals with the main private law problems and questions, involving cryptocurrencies as digital assets originated through distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). The main areas of focus are: the acquisition and transfer (inter vivos and mortis causa) of cryptocurrencies, liens over cryptocurrencies and liabilities of cryptocurrency-related service providers. Eventually, taxation-related features are considered.