Il diritto penale nell'età del cripto-oro. Gli elementi normativi della fattispecie di abusivismo finanziario tra monete virtuali e investimenti reali. (Nota a sentenza Corte suprema di Cassazione penale sezione II 25 settembre 2020, n. 26807)

Cryptocurrencies attract the lust of many investors, often unprepared and unqualified. It is difficult to predict the outcome of processes of richness demonetization, nevertheless the risks of criminal contamination of the economic systems and abuse of the vulnerable counterparties are already clear, as well as the backwardness of the regulatory framework both at international and internal level, which is currently suffering from a lack of a systemic overview of the dangers threatening public savings. The Italian Supreme Court, in the judgment under review, establishes a first milestone: the "online" sale of the virtual currency "bitcoin", advertised as a type of investment for savers, is an activity governed by the requirements set out in the legislation on financial instruments, pursuant to Article 91 et seq. of the Consolidated Law on Finance, whose omission constitutes the offence laid down in Article 166(1)(c) of the Consolidated Law on Finance.