Edited by Fabrizio Vedana

Crypto-asset operators fall within the category of other non-financial operators pursuant to letters i) and i-bis) of paragraph 5 of Article 3 of the same Legislative Decree no. 231 of 2007, and the anti-money laundering provisions apply to them. These entities, pursuant to Article 17-bis of Legislative Decree no. 141 of 13 August 2010, must be registered in a special section of the register maintained by the body for the management of the lists of financial agents and credit brokers (OAM). 
The Revenue Agency wrote this in the circular released for public consultation on June 15, 2020, which regulates the tax treatment of crypto-assets in implementation of the provisions of Article 1, paragraphs 126 to 147 of Law No. 197 of December 29, 2022 (Budget Law for 2023).
The tax authorities recall that Legislative Decree No. 231 of 21 November 2007 (implementation of Directive 2005/60/EC on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing, and Directive 2006/70/EC containing implementing measures) as amended by Legislative Decree No. 90 of 25 May 2017, implementing the fourth anti-money laundering directive (EU Directive 849/2015) and, subsequently, by Legislative Decree No. 4 of 4 October 2019. Article 125, implementing the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU Directive 843/2018), defines "virtual currency" as "a digital representation of value, not issued or guaranteed by a central bank or public authority, not necessarily linked to legal tender, used as a means of exchange for the purchase of goods and services or for investment purposes, and transferred, stored, and traded electronically." The Revenue Agency specifies that this definition does not classify virtual currencies in such a way as to place them under a specific legal category, but rather describes their potential functions by highlighting three characteristic elements: the representation of "value," the digital nature of such representation, and the fact that they are not issued or guaranteed by a central bank or public authority. 
The circular, in defining the terms and conditions for the possible regularization of crypto-assets not declared to the tax authorities, specifies that those holding them must demonstrate the lawfulness of the source of the invested sums. To this end, the application must be accompanied by a supporting report demonstrating the lawfulness of the source of the invested sums, along with relevant supporting documentation, along with data, documents, and information useful for determining the value at the end of each tax period and/or at the end of the period of holding the crypto-assets and/or the related income omitted for the purposes of substitute taxes and penalties. 
It is clear that providing such information and documentation will be much simpler if the crypto-asset operator used by those wishing to participate in the amnesty has acted correctly, including for anti-money laundering purposes, in verifying the legitimate origin of the funds used to acquire the crypto-assets.