Bank of Italy Governor Says Stablecoins Will Not Replace Digital Currency

• Fabio Panetta believes that central and commercial bank money will remain the basis of the monetary system.
• Stablecoins, he says, depend on fiat currencies and cannot be autonomous.
• Payments and digital finance are becoming a strategic area amid geopolitical fragmentation.

The head of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, said that the future of the monetary system is primarily linked to central bank digital currencies (CBDC) rather than stablecoins. According to Reuters, the regulator’s representative is confident that such assets will remain the foundation of the financial system, while stablecoins will only perform auxiliary functions.

Panetta made this statement at a meeting with the executive committee of the Italian Banking Association. He noted that in the future, commercial institutions’ money, along with central banks’ means of payment, will become fully digital, continuing to play a key role in the economy.

As the head of the regulator emphasized, the stability of stablecoins directly depends on their peg to traditional fiat currencies. For this reason, Panetta believes that such instruments are incapable of functioning as an independent basis for the monetary system.

These statements were made in the context of a broader discussion about payments, financial infrastructure, and growing geopolitical uncertainty.

Panetta noted that the digitization of money is a long-term structural trend. In his opinion, it is being shaped by banks and central institutions, rather than private crypto projects.

In the same speech, he called payments a strategic area for financial institutions, noting that they are becoming one of the key areas of competition. Traditional economic factors — investment, trade, and interest rates — are increasingly dependent on political decisions rather than solely on market mechanisms.

The Bank of Italy’s cautious stance on stablecoins is also evident in previous statements by the regulator.

In September 2025, Deputy Director of the Central Bank Chiara Scotti warned of the risks of multi-issuer stablecoins issued in several jurisdictions under a single brand. She pointed to possible legal, operational, and financial threats to the stability of the EU.

Recall that we wrote that Bank of Italy economist Claudia Biancotti called the risk of Ethereum’s collapse a threat to financial systems.