Malta’s ‘blockchain island’ strategy falters as banks refuse to play ball

Malta’s Finance and Employment Minister, Clyde Caruana, has revealed that the nation’s plan to grow to be a “blockchain island” is floundering because of the unwillingness of native banks to work with revolutionary companies.

Talking to native media outlet Lovin Malta, Caruana famous that few native companies have been in a position to safe banking companions, asserting: “Conventional banks have written off blockchain at its early levels.”

“The banks should be satisfied that that is one thing that may actually occur; until banks are on board it is going to be very troublesome.”

Caruana emphasised the necessity to make investments into constructing the talents wanted domestically to assist a flourishing blockchain sector, arguing: “There’s at all times the potential [to be a blockchain island] but when we wish to make it occur, there should be extra work.” 

What Caruana phrases “retail banking skepticism” impacts not solely blockchain, however different rising industries such because the island’s plan to assist medical hashish. Along with the obvious banking disinterest, the minister emphasised that the shortage of native abilities was hindering the expansion of recent industries in Malta:

“It’s not nearly whether or not the industries are new or previous, however moderately a query of abilities. [If] traders don’t discover what they require, they might assume twice. If we wish to carry on attracting funding to Malta, we should be sure that now we have what it takes by way of abilities.”

Malta’s parliament handed blockchain-friendly laws in 2018 as a part of its bid to emerge as a world hub for crypto and DLT, with the island shortly turning into home to places of work of the world’s then-largest crypto exchanges by quantity, Binance and OKEx. 

Nonetheless, the resignation of former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in February 2020 precipitated revelations that the Malta Monetary Companies Authority had not issued a license to a single crypto firm.

Whereas Malta’s new administration has publicly reaffirmed its dedication to establishing Malta as a world crypto hub, progress stays sluggish — though debit card supplier and change platform Crypto.com became the first company to receive licensing from Malta’s native monetary regulator on Nov. 24.