BITCOIN as a financial investment, the Court of Cassation says so
*by Fulvio Sarzana of S.Ippolito, Lawyer, Sarzana Law Firm and Associates.
There Cassation intervenes again on the subject of cryptocurrencies, considering that Bitcoin is a financial product if purchased for investment purposes.
The Supreme Court also conducts an extensive dissertation on the role of cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to the Supreme Court, in a ruling dated November 30, 2021, virtual currency, when it acts as an investment instrument and, therefore, as a financial product, must be governed by the rules on financial intermediation (Article 94 et seq. of the TUF), which guarantee investment protection through a unified set of special laws. Specifically, the Judges of Piazza Cavour ruled that:
Having said this, this Court has specified that where the sale of bitcoins is advertised as a real investment proposal, it is an activity subject to the requirements set out in Articles 91 and following of the TUF (“The CONSOB exercises the powers provided for in this part with regard to the protection of investors as well as the efficiency and transparency of the corporate control market and the capital market”), the omission of which constitutes the crime referred to in Article 166, paragraph 1, letter c) of the TUF (which punishes anyone who offers financial products or financial instruments or investment services or activities off-premises, or promotes or places them through remote communication techniques); therefore, at present, bitcoin can be considered a financial product if purchased for investment purposes: the virtual currency, when it assumes the function, i.e. the concrete cause, of an investment instrument and, therefore, of a financial product, must be regulated by the rules on financial intermediation (Article 94 et seq. of the TUF), which guarantee investment protection through a unitary special law.
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