Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to analyze and deepen the Bitcoin and the ecosystem that has been formed around it, trying to highlight the connections with the real world, showing how the points in which these two worlds intertwine represent the major critical factors of the system.
Given the regulatory gaps and the lack of controls, it is not surprising that Bitcoin has often been used to evade tax, recycle money and buy goods on the black market. Given this, and also taking into account the risk of security breaches, with potential prejudice to customers, it is now necessary and urgent to place the exchange platforms in a legal framework.
Considering the global scope of the services and the consequent risk of regulatory arbitrage, the most suitable place for an organic discipline of the subject is in a supranational context, but precisely in these contexts and particularly in Europe it is they find significant obstacles. The formulation of the European anti-money laundering directive, anchored to the obsolete definition of electronic money. On the other hand, in addition to lacking a harmonized discipline, there is not even an accepted legal definition of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, which are thus defined merely by exclusion.
In the absence of a shared general framework, some national regulators have thus intervened in random order and sometimes in a contradictory manner.
The impression is that Italian and European legislators have not yet fully understood the anti-systemic charge and global reach of this technology, probably believing that a digital phenomenon like Bitcoin has little to do with the real world. At this point, some final considerations on the nature of Bitcoin: to call digital a currency like Bitcoin is an understatement, considering the way in which it interacts with the real world.
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