Money laundering, Stablecoin overtaking Bitcoin to avoid reports

Italy tries to strengthen the combating money laundering, but a growing part of digital flows continues to evade controls. With the introduction of Article 45-bis to Legislative Decree 231/2007, it becomes mandatory for foreign VAS (Virtual asset service providers) to appoint a point of contact in Italy. This is a crucial step in order to bring under supervision operators acting through independent Atm counters or digital platforms, until now often outside the national regulatory perimeter. The objective is clear: to close a structural loophole that has favoured the anonymous operation of foreign entities in Italy.

The principle is simple: if you collect in Italy, you respond in Italy by fulfilling the anti-money laundering obligations. Those who do not comply will risk heavy penalties, quantifiable economically - but not only - up to five million euros. In fact, a share of Vasp has already started some form of anti-money laundering cooperation (see chart). 2024 recorded 6,255 reports for suspicious transactions (Sos) related to cryptocurrencies, up +25% on the previous year. In the first three months of 2025 there were already 2,166, and it is believed that there will be a steady increase with the introduction of 45-bis.

But as the norm evolves and the Vasp begin to come out of the shadows, money laundering is transformed. Increasingly, the Sos sent to the Bank of Italy's Financial Intelligence Unit - headed by Enzo Serata - concern Stablecoin, cryptocurrencies linked to the value of another asset, such as an official currency,the dollar or the euro. Tools that, thanks to their stability and the spread on messaging apps, allow quick and opaque transfers via unhosted wallets: digital wallets controlled directly by the user, without intermediaries or identification procedures. There is no bank, no Vasp, no reporting obligation. And it is here that Uif analysts register a paradigm shift in the world of money laundering. The gradual abandonment of Bitcoin, as the final conversion into euros or dollars is almost always necessary to make the money usable.

A step that turns on the radar of the vigilance. With Stablecoins this junction can be skipped. Anchored in fiat currencies, i.e. official currencies, they are already 'ready to use' in the digital circuit, retain a stable and recognisable value, and can circulate via app or unhosted wallet without needing to change form. In practice: money remains in crypto form, but behaves as liquid cash. This is the discontinuity that concerns anti-money laundering today. And it is here that the real changeover takes place: from Bitcoin to Stablecoins.

The subject is particularly hot, also in view of the levels that money laundering has reached in Italy. The Financial Administration has put an estimate on the table: 40 billion euro, or 2% of GDP, transit through illicit money laundering circuits. And the results, the result of very complicated investigations, were not lacking: over 1.2 billion euro seized in 17 months by the Guardia di Finanza, but only 73 million were linked to crypto. At the presentation of the Uif's annual report, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said that 'the ways in which crypto is used for money laundering purposes are constantly evolving and becoming more complex and sophisticated, and there is a growing use of stablecoins. Not only by organised and common crime.