The document published by the institution describes services that allow buying and selling Bitcoin without KYC as “crime-as-service”: is a dystopian future awaiting us?
The recent Bank of Italy report on cryptocurrency-related money laundering raises disturbing questions about the future. Behind the technical aspects of the document, a clear message emerges: exchanging Bitcoin for goods and services or fiat currency without controls and intermediaries potentially means being considered criminals. In attempting to combat money laundering, Bank of Italy seems to propose a model of total control over all human interactions, where privacy is a distant memory.
Definition of “Crime as a Service”
The document attacks the nature of P2P (peer-to-peer) exchanges, implying that they lend themselves almost exclusively to illicit purposes. Defining decentralized services as potential vectors of “crime as a service” implies a dangerous generalization, suggesting that any free exchange must be viewed with suspicion. From a broader perspective, however, this approach criminalizes every type of interaction not mediated by a third-party authority. Should we consider that even a child trading cards or an adult selling used items at flea markets risk being viewed as suspicious?
A future of total control?
Bank of Italy seems to be pushing towards a future where every human being must abandon much of their privacy to interact with the economic system. The priority given in the document to data collection and registration, such as transactions and the identity of involved parties, paints a scenario where the right to anonymity is completely sacrificed. According to the Bank, the best method to prevent and combat financial crime is to document every movement of value and associate it with identified persons. This inevitably translates into a society that presumes guilt, controlling anyone who manages or uses their money outside centralized systems.
But how far can this monitoring go? If an independent bookstore owner decides to sell a book accepting Bitcoin, does every legitimate transaction deserve to be controlled and considered suspicious? Isn’t economic freedom one of the founding principles of the free market?
Preparing the ground for the digital euro?
The release of Bank of Italy’s report coincides with the ECB’s evaluation period of the digital euro. One might wonder if the criminalization of P2P exchanges and the emphasis on cryptocurrency risks represent a strategic attempt to prepare the ground for European CBDC acceptance. By portraying Bitcoin and P2P transactions as potentially criminal tools, is Bank of Italy trying to create a contrast with the “security” that should be offered by a currency completely controlled by the European institution? The digital euro could theoretically allow real-time monitoring of every expense, the application of spending limits, and even the programming of money with expiration dates or restrictions on certain purchases.
P2P services have always existed
Bank of Italy underestimates – or deliberately ignores – that P2P services exist because they meet people’s needs. They are not limited to cryptocurrencies but are present in every aspect of daily life: flea markets, exchanges between friends, and street food stands, for example. These are normal, non-dangerous activities, and not regulating them does not equate to promoting crime.
Bitcoin as a bulwark against a dystopian future
If Bank of Italy’s direction is the path we want to take, then we are heading toward a dystopian future. A world where every human interaction is monitored, where anonymity is suspicious, and anyone who wishes to protect their privacy is automatically guilty. This is where Bitcoin takes on a fundamental role, representing resistance to this type of vision. Bitcoin allows value exchange without intermediaries, returning control of economic actions to individuals.
Like any technology, Bitcoin isn’t perfect, and like any human tool, it can be used for illicit purposes. But what Bitcoin embodies is the possibility of a world where money is once again a tool in the hands of free individuals, not a weapon used against them by centralized institutions under the pretext of security.
The real issue at stake is not money laundering or crime, topics that have been discussed long before the advent of cryptocurrencies. Instead, this is a battle between freedom and control. The vision proposed by Bank of Italy clearly stands on the side of control, where everything must be regulated, observed, and managed. Bitcoin, on the contrary, offers a decentralized alternative, where individual power is reaffirmed.
