Bank of Italy governor: banks, not stablecoins, will anchor digital money
Bank of Italy Governor Fabio Panetta said commercial bank money is likely to become fully digital alongside central bank money, while stablecoins will play only a complementary role because their stability depends on fiat pegs. Speaking to Italy’s banking association, Panetta framed payments and digital finance as strategic battlegrounds for banks amid technological shifts and geopolitical fragmentation. He warned that traditional economic drivers are increasingly shaped by political decisions and noted that digitalisation of money is a long-term trend led by banks and central institutions rather than private crypto issuers. The comments echo the bank’s cautious stance on stablecoins — including prior warnings from Vice Director Chiara Scotti about cross-border, multi-issuer stablecoins posing legal, operational and financial stability risks to the EU — and call for strict reserve and redemption requirements for such tokens.
Neutral
Panetta’s comments reinforce a regulatory and institutional preference for bank- and central bank-led digital money rather than privately issued stablecoins. For traders, this is broadly neutral: it doesn’t directly ban stablecoins or crypto assets, but it signals sustained regulatory scrutiny and potential constraints on private stablecoin growth. In the short term, such remarks can reduce speculative upside for stablecoin-linked projects and tokens that rely on narrative of private money replacing banks, causing modest selling pressure or muted rallies in related assets. In past episodes (e.g., regulatory crackdowns after LUNA/UST collapse and subsequent stablecoin scrutiny), markets priced in increased compliance and redemption requirements, which pressured some tokens while benefiting regulated on‑ramps and banking partners. In the medium-to-long term, the emphasis on tokenized commercial bank money and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could shift capital toward regulated, bank-integrated digital payment rails and tokenized bank liabilities, supporting projects that partner with incumbents. Overall, expect continued volatility around policy announcements, constrained growth for unbacked or loosely regulated stablecoins, and incremental support for bank/CBDC-related infrastructure — hence a neutral classification rather than strongly bullish or bearish for the broader crypto market.