Blockchain Companies In Malta To Wait Before Applying For Approvals

By Kapil Gauhar

A Times of Malta report dated 20th July states that the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has instructed in a statement that now blockchain operators have to wait before applying for authorisations and approvals till a recently sanctioned framework comes into force.

In their new statement, the MFSA has said that it is in the process of developing a new framework that is going to support the recent blockchain laws. Therefore companies will now have to wait for a public announcement from the organisation before they can go ahead with securing approvals and authorisations. DLT, or distributed ledger
technology will be regulated by the Virtual Financial Assets Act (VFAA) that was passed by the Parliament of Malta on 5 July. With such new legislations, Malta officially becomes the first country in the world to provide a legal backing to blockchain companies.

The Times of Malta reported that the MFSA has been observing the opinions of stakeholders regarding the new rules in the last few weeks. They have also been deliberating upon various issues related to VFAA, like fees and administrative penalties.

The MFSA is reportedly also working on a new “rulebook” for the newly made laws, the first chapter of which is to remain open till July ends. The agency will further issue two more chapters, which will provide details about the VFAA issuers and the service providers. At the end of the consultation period, the final set of rules and regulations for the VFAA will be released by the MFSA, which will enable this new legislation to come into force.

Until then, companies should reportedly keep an eye on announcements from the regulators in order to stay informed about updates and developments about the new framework.

Malta is currently bent on becoming the “blockchain island” by creating a truly crypto-friendly regulatory environment. Several digital asset companies and exchanges like OKex, Binance, and BitBay are already located in Malta.

Binance had made announcements earlier this month about their intentions of establishing a blockchain-based bank with tokenised ownership. This future bank, dubbed “Founders Bank”, to be owned by the investors in the alt-coins, would be based in Malta, and become the first fully decentralised and community-owned bank in the world.