Bank of Italy urges banks to invest in digital assets despite uncertainty

what happened

Bank of Italy Deputy Governor Chiara Scotti said on Friday that banks should not hold off on digital technology investments until it becomes clear which technology will win out. She said waiting may save money in the short term, but it carries costs because it slows learning and the creation of future opportunities. The text of her speech was published by Reuters.

Scotti advised banks to back projects that prove useful across different scenarios and to start on a limited scale. Flexibility and staged commitments, she said, allow banks to balance caution with innovation without betting early on a single technological path. She also noted that it remains unclear how widely tokenisation, the conversion of bank deposits into digital tokens that can move on blockchain-based networks, will spread. Still, banks must act to preserve their role as issuers of private money.

why it matters

The story is broadly framed and contains no concrete regulatory decision. For markets it signals that European banks may gradually step up spending on tokenisation and blockchain infrastructure, which could interest investors in fintech and the banking sector.

market impact

Banking sector: a signal of rising digital investment, with no immediate effect on earnings

tags

instruments