Despite the country's blatant openness to blockchain technology, its prime minister views the recent policies adopted to accelerate the development of cryptocurrencies as a risk.
The initiative of the blockchain industry in Malta is an act of faith that will establish it as an important hub for digital resources and their development in Europe, according to premier Joseph Muscat in a & # 39; interview reported by Bloomberg.
"We are taking a calculated risk," he said yesterday in reference to the idea of divesting "layers" of the bureaucracy "so that start-ups could establish a point of support on the island
Apart from the recent blockchain-friendly policies that Malta has adopted in the recent past, the country's taxes on foreign entities make it an attractive destination for companies supplying digital goods around the world.
Muscat could tell the truth, the calculated risk seems to bear fruit.This year both Binance and OKEx, two of the largest squares in the world, have established presences there.
Binance has gone a step further by establishing a start-up accelerator through a partnership with the stock exchange of the country It did not take long before the exchange also started to implement euro exchange pairs for cryptocurrencies.
The risky part of this tough test is the possibility of further political pressure from the EU due to money laundering scandals. the island was crossed in the recent past. Given that cryptocurrencies have a strong association in the eyes of European authorities with money laundering, the influx of these operations in Malta could raise concerns.
However, Muscat seems to be satisfied with these recent movements, seeing blockchain technology as a solution, not an exacerbator of these problems.
"I see the blockchain as a technology that is part of a solution when it comes to due diligence and anti-money laundering procedures We are quite aware of the problems of AML across Europe and I do not think it can be stuck on a particular country Like Malta: In the same way that we defined our regulation when it came to online gaming, we are in a flash in all this, I think we can replicate in this area too, where the EU at the end of the day will what we are doing right here today ", he concluded.