La virtualizzazione delle valute: prospettive regolatorie tra opportunità da cogliere e rischi da evitare.

The topic of the so called “Virtual currencies” is, certainly, at the core of a growing scientific, institutional and political interest, due to the extent and the articulation of related problems and to its immediate and potential implications, which it can have in the economic and legal scenario. Virtual currencies, whose most well-known and widespread example is, certainly, Bitcoin, represent a sort of galaxy in which there is a high number of different models, characterized by several structural and functional elements and different technical and organizational factors, which are not easly referred to certain and well known cases. They move in the folds of a regulation that, struggling to chase after the rapid transformation and the mutability that characterise them, is often inadequate, lacking and even completely absent. The activity of legal reconstruction and juridical interpretation is therefore particularly difficult and uncertain. After outlining mechanism characteristics of Bitcoin, the paper examines different solutions that were proposed to give a legal framework about this field, through recalling and examining the paths that were taken both by main doctrinal guidelines and by both domestic and European Supervisory Authorities last trends. There is no doubt that tipical aspects of this particular virtual currency represent the main quality but also, at the same time, the defects that have supported on one hand its fast and uncontrolled spread and on the other a certain amount of particular care due to possible fraudulent or illegal uses. As part of general trend aimed to identify an adequate European regulatory framework to support and to take advantage of technological innovation, also guaranteing legal certainty, the examined subject has particular importance, faced up to regard both to risks and to advantages that are connected to the application of particular DLT technology. An adequate regulatory approach should consider these characteristics, adopting principles and solutions that are capable to keep pace with this evolution and to best use certain opportunities they present, limiting, as much as possible, distorted or contra legem uses.