Malta’s relationship with the crypto community keeps getting better and better, with the latest accolade coming for digital economy parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri’s willingness to meet the boss of crypto-exchange giant Binance on a Saturday. 

Binance boss Zhao Changpeng, who plans to relocate his headquarters from Hong Kong to Malta, arrived on the island last week and wasted no time in meeting Schembri to discuss his plans to regulate the blockchain industry. 

And Schembri’s willingness to meet the Chinese entrepreneur on a Saturday didn’t go unnoticed. 

“The government of Malta works on Saturday for blockchain initiatives,” Zhao tweeted. “How about yours?”

Several of Zhao’s followers reacted by praising Schembri and Malta for taking a step into the future by drafting laws intended to attract crypto-industries to the island. 

These included Zoe Adamovicz, founder of blockchain-based equity fundraiser Neufund, which has also announced plans to move to Malta. 

“Silvio Schembri works on Saturday with Binance on #blockchainisland,” she said, referring to Malta’s fast-goring nickname within the crypto industry. “And what is your government doing for blockchain and DLT [Digital Ledger Technology]?”

“Malta is taking a smart move and I strongly believe that other nations will follow sooner or later,” an Angolan crypto-trader said.

“My government is still missing that train, but I’m pretty sure that when they will decide to discuss cryptos, it will be just to decide how to tax them and by how much,” an Italian man said.  

“No progress at home yet,” a Polish man commented. 

In the coming weeks, Malta is expected to pass three laws to attract blockchain-based companies to the island by setting up an authority which will regulate them and therefore grant them legal certainty. Despite the caution attributed to the industry by several nations, Schembri and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat have confidently claimed the move could transform Malta into a Silicon Valley of the Mediterranean. 

Are you excited about Malta’s plans to embrace the crypto-industry? 

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]