You might have heard recently that Malta aims to be a ‘mecca of crypto’
Moving Silently
If you ask your average citizen of Malta about their country being ‘blockchain island’ they might just think you’re making it all up.
Most haven't heard of the changes because much of the commotion is within the regulation itself and not of physical entities
How can people that may be unaware of their countries open market take on the regulation of cryptocurrencies be of aid to mainstream adoption?
The ‘wild west’ of Crypto
It’s no slight on the people of Malta to not have heard of the new laws being put in place to allow for the loosest regulation on cryptocurrency. Malta being such a small country, one would think that nations like South Korea, or Japan where tech companies often take strong rooting and would be a more likely candidate.
The biggest splash yet came from Binance the current largest cryptocurrency exchange that has moved to the Island which originates from Hong Kong.
This likely does not come as a surprise, but what might, is that many other cryptocurrency companies have their sights set on the island.
“A significant number of very knowledgeable people from the global blockchain community have worked diligently together with the [Maltese] government to develop a legal framework, which regulates wisely and supports the further development of blockchain”
One large Rolodex
The Malta Blockchain Summit is only one of many conventions currently being put on for investors and start-ups alike. The partnership list for the event is outstanding, to say the least…
4PlayVR, Adeezy, AdVendor, AEToken, Agopolis, Almond analitigo, ARQ, AFIN, Aurlite, Avanzia, Avinoc, Aximetria, Bankex, BatteryStorrage, B2 Broker, BDO, Belair, BDX Exchange, Binomo, Bitbay, Bitcomo, Bitcore, BitFury, BitStarz, Bitemycoin, BitSane, Blackmoon, Blockchain Academy, Blockchain advisory, Block Asset Managment, Blockchain World Forum, Blockdraw, Blockex BlockTechnologyAI, Blockwise, Bloomio, Blue OCean, Blockchart, Buddy, BuiltinMT, CSB Group, CCTrader crypto, Centrecom, Centrumcoin, CGCX.io, Chetcuti Cauchi, Cobinhood, Codum, Coinweb CoinCME, Coincodex CoinPoint CoinSquare, Coin Traffic, Conventions Malta, Corrieri Cilia, Country Profiler, Craftchain, Creative 3d Web, Chrono Bank.io Crown Platform, Cryptonity, CryptoPay, are all just a fraction of the partners
These companies among many others are partaking in the initial stages of the 4th industrial revolution through aiding decentralization, and their biggest proponent is the Maltese government itself.
Virtual Financial Assets Act (VFA)
The Act outlines stringent requirements for those that are launching cryptocurrencies, as well as other service providers including brokerages, portfolio managers, custodian and nominee service providers, eWallet providers, investment advisors, and perhaps most crucially, cryptocurrency exchanges. These initial offerings of VFA are better known to the space as ICO’s
In addition, it regulates the type of VFAs which may be issued through an Initial VFA offering and admission to trading on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) exchange, which must be made with a registered whitepaper to be delivered to the Malta Financial Services Authority as the competent authority.
It also clearly clarifies that businesses will be liable to pay damages to anyone that loses money due to false statements contained in the whitepaper.
Innovative Technology Arrangement and Services Act (ITAS)
The ITAS Act will allow for the registration of persons providing innovative technology services (‘ITS providers’) on any ITAs. Once registered, the service provider will be granted a certificate of registration which will contain certain relevant information including, inter alia, identification details and the classes of services which the applicant has been registered to provide. This certificate is to be made accessible to all users of the ITA since it is intended to increase transparency, certainty and confidence with regards to certified ITAs. Applicants who are not ordinarily resident in Malta must appoint a resident agent (prior to registration) who is habitually resident in Malta.
Most interestingly, ITS providers registered under the provisions of the Act will be considered professionals who act as fiduciaries in relation to the information submitted to them by any customers and shall also be bound by the provisions of the Professional Secrecy Act. These new obligations will almost surely be appreciated by potential investors since they are strengthening the legislative framework within which ITAs and ITSs operate by increasing accountability and confidentiality.
All of this legislative structural integrity has made Malta the hotspot of networking for blockchain.
Win-Win Situation
Corporations and LLCs establishing themselves on the island for a sort of regulation and tax lenient immunity is not a new practice and it certainly won't cause a population problem on the already densely populated island anytime soon.
The movement actually does benefit the citizens immensely via an influx of business for emerging & merging technology that will compete for a stake on not only the island but the global platform.
Malta signed an MoU with Binance to create the Blockchain Charity Foundation that will develop blockchain-powered solutions to local and regional issues in the country.
Malta itself is experienced in this sort of migration as they also have some of the worlds most open gambling laws which have caused a different flood in the past.
Online Sportsbooks and Casinos alike have fought to come to the country for the very same loose regulation in establishing and taxation of gambling.
This is also why Malta is a great fit for MVU and will be established on the island as a beneficiary of both of these sets of regulations and remains one of our top short-term priorities as we raise funds to do such. Mid 2018 the team took a trip here to set up a few preliminary steps in this process and is currently within the heat of it all as a great fit for the ‘Blockchain Island’
