Is Malta Still The Blockchain Island? I Guess Not!

Malta is a beautiful nation, a nation which has played an active role in pioneering global adoption of blockchain technology and many crypto enthusiasts, will forever be grateful to this small island for promoting global adoption of the blockchain technology especially during the 2018 ICO and Crypto boom.

Those of us who remember the speech by the Prime Minister at the UN will recall that the country’s government had proposed to spearhead the deployment of the latest technology into all sectors of her economy but failed to first create awareness at home to its half a million citizens.

We hate to bear bad news. But it appears as though the hopes Malta had in its drive towards becoming the first blockchain-powered economy of the world has suffered a serious setback and interestingly, the wounds appear to be self-inflicted as news reaching us indicate that 70% of companies in the sector have not bothered to formally apply for licensing. As if that was not enough, about 26 applications have been declined and thus, indicating a rather stern financial asset regulatory policy. 

Does the lack of interest and enthusiasm on the part of the Companies, indicate a move to back out of the vision? Or is the economy of Malta just not ready for full adoption and decentralization?

In a statement, The financial regulator warned customers that doing business with unregulated firms constitutes a risk to the investors.

Adding that:

“We are aware of a number of entities that have failed to submit either a letter of intent to initiate the application process for a VFA [virtual financial asset] services license or a cessation of activities notification.”

Before now, about just before the intention to be the worlds first blockchain Island, the Maltese government had approved three crypto-related bills, aiming to establish a strong and transparent regulatory climate: namely, the Digital Innovation Authority Act, the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act, and the Virtual Financial Asset Act. However, this did not prevent the current regulatory aversion displayed by the crypto economy in the country

In developments that followed the change in government in Malta, cointelegraph reported communication breakdown between the MFSA and current leading companies (Binance) and the MFSA  there after barred operations within her economy prior to compliance with regulation.

“Bearing in mind that the company is not in fact under their supervision, the MFSA are correct in wanting to distance Malta's reputation from any potential fallout from an incident that they are unable to foresee due to the company not being under their oversight. On the other hand, if the MFSA got around to issuing licences maybe we wouldn't be here now…

Could stringent policies be the major reason for the draw-back in support of the dream to set up the blockchain Utopia in Malta?