Italy's Central Bank Orders Thorough Sanctions Screening for All Crypto Transactions

Italy's central bank, Banca d'Italia, has ordered all licensed crypto-asset service providers to thoroughly screen every cryptocurrency transaction for sanctions compliance. The move aims to prevent potential structuring risks where individuals could split larger transactions into smaller ones to evade detection.

The ban applies regardless of the transfer size and no minimum threshold can be set in screening systems to avoid this issue.

This requirement is based on European Banking Authority guidelines that became applicable in Italy on December 30, 2025. The guidelines emphasize the importance of maintaining governance arrangements capable of identifying designated people and entities.

Banca d'Italia's September note can be seen as a compliance check-in rather than new law. The central bank is asking firms to prove their existing systems are correctly configured and calibrated.