Malta Officially Declared As Blockchain Island, Passes Three Cryptocurrency Bills As Law

Malta has proved to be the safest haven for the cryptocurrency businesses and firms. Already quite popular in the global crypto sphere, the Maltese officials have now formally confirmed the Mediterranean Island to be recognized as the “blockchain island”.

On Wednesday, July 4, the parliament of Malta officially passed three cryptocurrency bills as laws while establishing a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, blockchain and DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology). With this, Malta becomes the first country ever giving an official set of regulations for companies under the above three segments. The bills include the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act, the Malta Digital Innovation Authority Act, and the Virtual Financial Asset Act.

Maltas, Junior Minister of Financial Services Silvio Schembri tweeted: “The 3 Bills that will regulate DLT have been approved by Parliament and enacted into law. Malta , the first world jurisdiction to provide legal certainty to this space.”

During an press conference, Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat confirmed that the country has given full support to all these three cryptocurrency bills designed in a way to embrace the blockchain technology. In a word with Forbes, Mr. Muscat said: “I think that blockchain technology, DLT and cryptocurrency is where innovation is happening right now and we are very glad that Malta can offer the first jurisdiction in the world to regulate this sector. We are excited about what this will lead to in the future.”

It was last year in May 2017 when Malta recognized the growth potential of the crypto space and started working towards developing a national strategy and establishing itself as a crypto-friendly ‘blockchain island’. At that time, Muscat was quoted saying: “We must be on the frontline in embracing blockchain and Bitcoin…we must be the ones that others copy.”

Earlier this year, due to growing regulatory scrutiny by the Japanese government, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance considered shifting its base to Malta. This was soon followed by its immediate competitor OKEx joining them later.

Much recently after Poland’s banking institutions refused to offer services to crypto exchanges and firms, BitBay immediately shifted its operations to Malta citing “productive discussions with the government of the Republic of Malta and a friendly business environment.”