Why Is Malta A Popular Choice For Crypto Exchange & Businesses?

Malta has been gaining a lot of attention, with the biggest crypto exchange Binance moving to the European island and then another major exchange OKEx announcing its plan to start its operations in the country. With its proactive and crypto favorable regulations, the island is becoming a preferential choice for crypto businesses which is joined by yet another blockchain firm, Newfund.

After Binance & OKEx, Berlin-based Newfund takes Malta route

With Japan tightening the regulations on cryptocurrency sector last month, Hong Kong-based Binance, made its move to shift its crypto exchange operations from Japan to the small nation, Malta. According to the coinmarketcap, Binance is the number one exchange by trading volume that will be working with the local banks of Malta for fiat-to-crypto deposits and withdrawals that will be a huge step for the exchange.  

Changpeng Zhao stated that Malta government has invited him to look at the country’s upcoming crypto favorable bill and claimed they will be announcing a banking partnership soon.

Binance was the first crypto exchange to move to Malta but certainly not the last. OKEx was the second in line to move its operations to Malta.

OKEx is another Hong Kong-based crypto exchange that announced its plan to expand to the European island, a few days back. The Prime Minister of the country, Joseph Muscat welcomed the exchange into its territory and further stated:

“Malta is fast becoming the jurisdiction of choice for Distributed Ledger Technology companies in the European Union and globally.”

Now, a Berlin-based company, Newfund, an ethereum blockchain-based equity fundraising platform is opening its satellite office on the island. Zoe Adamovicz, the CEO of the company stated:

“We are impressed by the work done so far by the Maltese government and its pro-new technology stance. Malta should serve as a model for other countries and regulators. We are excited to contribute in building strong and stable blockchain ecosystem on Malta.”

He further shared:

“Together with Malta’s government, we want to kick-start the creation of crypto-friendly laws, with Malta’s DLT framework initiative already serving as a great foundation.”

Also, read: Crypto Exchanges Racing Towards Crypto Regulated Countries

Malta’s Proactive Approach to Crypto & Blockchain Regulations

With such big exchanges already to its name and many others also making an entry into Malta, it can surely be said that the Maltese government’s plan to attract international crypto businesses by positioning itself a crypto favorable jurisdiction is certainly paying off.

There are a lot of factors that make Malta an attractive nation for cryptocurrency businesses and its take on cryptocurrencies the primary one. The country has been positive on both blockchain and cryptocurrencies and further allows for their growth and innovation.

Malta took a proactive approach in providing a legal framework for DLT which works great for operators like Binance that has regulatory pressure in their operating country. There are three pieces of legislation involving MDIA (Malta Digital Innovation Authority) Bill, Technology Arrangements and Service providers (TAS) Bill, and Virtual Currencies (VC) Bill. Moreover, the government sees these crypto businesses as an economic achievement.

Do you think after Binance and OKEx more crypto exchanges and blockchain companies will make Malta as their home base?