The bank puts an end to the misunderstanding born of a tweet: "We do not invest in virtual currencies, but we do not inhibit our users from doing so. Without prejudice to the recommendations on the risks associated with these instruments " 14 Jan 2022 A. S.
“We confirm that UniCredit does not currently engage in any cryptocurrency investment business. However, it should be clarified that UniCredit absolutely does not inhibit its customers buying and selling transactions in virtual currencies, without prejudice to the recommendations on the risks associated with these instruments. We apologize for any misunderstanding ". With this statement published on Twitter, the bank puts an end to the misunderstanding that had concerned it in the last few days, to be precise since, on January 7, it had published another post which gave rise to the misunderstanding. Speaking in a discussion between users, the bank had pointed out that "current Group policies prohibit relations with counterparties issuing virtual currencies or acting as exchange platforms", creating the misunderstanding that UniCredit customers were precluded from trading in virtual currencies. In reality, the position of the institute is in line with that adopted by the Bank of Italy to protect savers: precisely on this subject Bankitalia had published a document together with Consob in which users were warned and warned of the "high risks associated with operations in crypto-assets, which may involve the full loss of the sums of money used ". This reading is motivated by the fact that there is not yet a single framework of rules in Europe to regulate the sector, nor is there a regulation and control activity entrusted to a supervisory authority. On a page of its website, Unicredit publishes its position on investments in cryptocurrencies more extensively: "UniCredit does not currently carry out any investment activities in cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) either on behalf of its customers, nor on its own account - reads online document - UniCredit offers consultancy and offers various investment products and services based on the characteristics of each client ". Then the institute also recalls the guidelines of the European supervisory authorities, which underline how virtual currencies are "high-risk products and for this reason they are not suitable for the purpose of investment, savings and / or supplementary pension plans", which " virtual currencies and their exchange, in the event that customers can trade, are not regulated by European Union laws ", and that" Some exchange transactions between virtual currencies have been subject to liquidity and operational problems, with customers unable to buy and sell virtual currencies when they wished to do so and / or forced to suffer losses due to price volatility ".
Criptovalute, Unicredit chiarisce: “Nessuno stop alle transazioni per i clienti”