The island country of Malta is well-known for its online gaming offerings and the excellent conditions it provides for international gaming and crypto companies and the development of their businesses. This Wednesday witnessed a historical decision of the Parliament which gave the final nod to the proposed blockchain bills, turning them into laws that will regulate the crypto field of Malta.
With this move, the country became a pioneer in the virtual currency framework on a global scale. Malta has been known as the online gambling hub in Europe for many years now and at this point, it is synonymous with the place where iGaming developers prefer to operate and let their businesses thrive. In addition to the beneficial state of its online gaming industry which provides operators from near and far with the chance to develop their businesses in optimal conditions and some of the lowest tax rates in the world, the island has also wanted to introduce crypto regulation in order to make the field safer.
It could be recalled that the month of February saw the news that Financial Services Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri stated that the country is well on its way to becoming the first jurisdiction to have its own blockchain legislation, helping regulate the field and provide fair conditions for development for all. This is being done in an attempt to make the location preferred for crypto operation and to encourage more businesses to approach the already attractive field with the help of legal certainty to the space.
Within the range of the new regulations which are now turned into laws, there is the Malta Digital Innovation Authority Act, the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act, as well as the Virtual Financial Asset Act. The first one is going to aid the process of the new authority which is going to oversee the new sector and closely observe occurrences taking place there.
Among the leading responsibilities of the new unit will be to oversee the operation of the entities which rely on virtual currencies and to encourage more operators to base their business in Malta.
Crypto Operation Becomes Regulated and Safer
A second aspect of the proper regulation provided is going to be the Technological Arrangement Services Act which is going to facilitate the application process of service providers. In addition to that, it will also have on offer the opportunity to register and receive a certificate for Distributed Ledger Technology platform management. This is going to be available for every auditor and administrator.
The said feature of the new field was among the more demanded ones. The last bill which was inked into a law was related to the well-known around the world initial coin offerings which are looking for ways in which new projects and groundbreaking ideas could receive funding from the public. This bill will introduce a specific framework which will make the said crowd fundings regulated and reduce the chance of illegal activities taking place.
Money laundering will also be on the radar of the new bill which has the potential to guarantee such practices are not going to occur. As a result of this properly regulated blockchain field, the local gambling field is also going to benefit significantly since many online financial transactions heavily rely on virtual currencies. Their security is of utmost importance in this sense, as more and more online gaming operators consider their utilization or have already introduced them to their structure as a payment method.
More people are expected to warm up to crypto transactions and digital currencies in general after the introduction of these new laws. Companies are already making their way to the gaming hub of Malta considering it a profitable opportunity for development. Among the first businesses to relocate its headquarters there was the world’s largest virtual currency exchange Binance which relocated from Japan to Malta in pursuit of smoother operation.
