By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
Malta is actively working on becoming the friendliest jurisdiction for firms dealing with cryptocurrencies from all over the world.
Though there are not so many blockchain-friendly jurisdictions around the world, Malta that is known for its innovative regulatory agenda is probably the most special one.
In a press conference, Malta’s prime minister Joseph Muscat informed the journalists that the parliament will approve three cryptocurrency bills that were designed to bring changes the blockchain sphere.
Silvio Schembri, the Parliamentary Secretary for Digital innovation and Finance, said:
“This is the last stage of the legislation that will put Malta on the international map for blockchain and crypto regulation. There is political consensus on this roadmap and we are foreseeing that this area will be the mainstay of our economic growth for the next 4-5 years.”
The three bills that are to be approved in the third and final reading after the Maltese Parliament passed the second reading of them last week cover the regulation of ICOs, guidelines for cryptocurrency exchange operators that want to start their business in Malta and the broader regulation of the cryptocurrency and blockchain sphere. These include but not limited to:
- The MDIA Bill according to which the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA) will be established. The bill is to offer the necessary arrangements for the certification of technology and the registration of companies providing services in this sphere.
- The ITAS Bill (The Innovative Technology Arrangements and Services Act) is designed to regulate the innovative technology arrangements.
- The VFA Bill (The Virtual Financial Assets Bill) represents itself the framework necessary for ICOs, cryptocurrency exchanges and the regulatory regime for virtual currencies-related services. This bill is to regulate the activity of brokers, exchanges, assets managers, investment advisors, wallet providers and other market makers within the virtual currency sector.
Today Malta is widely known as a country that is trying to create a crypto-friendly environment which will be able to attract a number of foreign companies working in this sphere.
Earlier this year, CoinSpeaker has already written about several companies that took a decision to establish their presence in Malta. For example, in March, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced its decision to relocate its headquarters to Malta. A little bit later, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange OKEx followed the example of Binance and announced establishment of its office in Malta.
Malta has gained its reputation of being an attractive location for companies working in blockchain and cryptocurrency sphere partially owing to removing regulatory uncertainty. In contrast to many other countries, Maltese government has a very clear understanding that blockchain includes not only cryptocurrencies. The country is designing regulatory framework for the economy of the future rather than trying to apply yesterday’s rules for it.
Malta has become the first country in the world to legally recognize smart contracts and DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) that are defined as a new type of legal entity called “Technology Arrangements”.