The month of March, which closes the first quarter of 2026, has begun and, as it does every 90 days, the Organismo degli Agenti e Mediatori has released its snapshot of Italian financial habits, which the OAM uses to monitor the investment picture in our country. In order to collect the data on which it bases its analysis, the OAM involves other financial actors, such as, the Virtual Asset Service Provider, which provide the figures related to how many countrymen decide to invest in cryptocurrencies.
The audience of Italian cryptocurrency holders is growing rapidly
We are in a phase where cryptocurrencies and digital assets are gaining popularity, in Italy. By the end of Q1 2024, the VASP had transmitted data on 1,174,914 clients to the organisation. According to their checks, 59% of these, i.e. 690,665 persons, were found to actually hold crypto in their portfolios. The calculated countervalue was 1,067,614,570 euro and the average amount held was 1,545.78 euro.
Two years later, at the end of Q1 2026, the number of customers counted in the flows became 2,521,056 and the share of holders rose to 69%. We are talking about 1,749,483 customers, with a total value of EUR 2,520,173,273. From this figure, it follows that the average value held is around EUR 1,440.52 each, a reduction of around 6.8% compared to two years earlier. The data reported at the end of a quarter are actually those from the beginning/middle of the period, due to an inevitable discrepancy between the time they are collected and the time they are published.
An important clarification
The distinction highlighted between clients transmitted and clients holding crypto is at the heart of the OAM dataset. In the organisation's flows, the two metrics coexist in parallel and must be read correctly.
This is not a simple market survey. The body's analytical framework stems from a regulatory obligation: the Ministerial Decree dated 13 January 2022. It regulates both the condition of operating in Italy and the periodic transmission of operational information. Article 3 clarifies that the exercise of crypto services on Italian territory is reserved for registered entities, which may call themselves VASPs, and that communication to the OAM is a prerequisite for the legal exercise of the activity. Article 5 sets out, precisely, the information architecture: providers transmit, electronically, data on transactions carried out in Italy, on a quarterly basis.
The Italian Investor Awareness Survey
The flows measure the number of clients and transactions, not financial expertise. The OAM itself, in order to enquire about trader awareness, conducted a survey, which revealed a friction: although crypto owners are increasing, a significant proportion of them still underestimate risks that could be described as elementary.
61% of those questioned by the body, as part of this research, are aware that a cryptocurrency can collapse by as much as 80%, in a matter of days. There are, however, 31% of investors who have no idea about the degree of volatility of these assets. This is a huge information hole, since this is the dominant market risk.
On the operational and custody risk side, the perception is equally problematic. Only 15% of crypto holders reached by the survey expressed concern about possible hacker attacks on their wallets. Adoption is growing faster than financial literacy.
An information heritage in danger of being lost
The OAM's monitoring function is important to take a snapshot of how investment trends are moving in our country. The transition to the European regulation (MiCA) and the consequent closure of the OAM crypto register, which will take place progressively as the data collected and processed are transmitted to a European counterpart, will do away with the obligation to transmit data on a quarterly basis (assuming Brussels does not confirm this) and disperse a wealth of information that is quite useful to the country.
