Resolution no. 22843

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out via the website https://cryptonoid.co and its page https://account.cryptonoid.co

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA
[THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COMPANIES AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE]

HAVING REGARD to Law no. 216 of 7 June 1974, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance"), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

1. potential investors are offered the opportunity, via the https://cryptonoid.co website – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian thanks to an integrated multilingual translation system – to trade derivatives such as CFDs on cryptocurrencies;
2. in order to place such trading transactions, users must register with the https://cryptonoid.co website, through a process that is also available to users connecting from Italy, and open an account in which to deposit funds; specifically, four types of account ("Bronze", "Silver", "Gold" e "Pro") are advertised on the website;
3. after registration on the website, customers may log into the reserved area at https://account.cryptonoid.co, where there is a specific function to deposit funds on the trading account;
4. as to the traceability of the https://cryptonoid.co website, the footer of the website indicates the company Cryptonoid Ltd, with alleged registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://cryptonoid.co website and its page https://account.cryptonoid.co is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://cryptonoid.co website and its page https://account.cryptonoid.co, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the https://cryptonoid.cowebsite is available in Italian through automatic translation systems and no mechanism was found to block registration to the https://cryptonoid.co website by users attempting to register with the abovementioned domain from Italy using Italian IP addresses. In addition, investment solicitation activities have been reported in connection with the https://cryptonoid.co website. These activities involved sending e-mails to Italian savers;

WHEREAS Cryptonoid LTD, as mentioned on the website https://cryptonoid.co, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed on the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities as per article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which "The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved to Italian investment firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms";

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD to the fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the breach";

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this Resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the https://cryptonoid.co website and its page https://account.cryptonoid.co, consisting in the offering and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

9 October 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona