Malta which is an archipelago in the Mediterranean located between Sicily and the North African coast is rapidly turning into an international hub for entrepreneurs who are into Blockchain business. But reports have made it clear that two out of three applicants were not able to clear the licensing exam for starting up businesses which are related to cryptocurrencies. This exam was conducted by Malta’s Institute of Financial Service Practitioners.
Also, the Times of Malta reported the following event,
There were fewer number of applicants who passed the exam even after Malta’s Institute of Financial Service Practitioners made last-minute alterations to the marking scheme to pump up the number of licenses it could allot to the applicants.
It is clearly mentioned in Malta’s new Virtual Finances Assets Act that it is mandatory for cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses to have a valid license in order to shell out initial coin offerings (ICOs), build capital, or trade digital assets.
There is a procedure involved to acquire license where applicants have to complete a short duration course where they will be trained. They will also have to answer a set of multiple choice questions framed by the MFSA. Only then they will be eligible to get a license and establish their Businesses.
It has been revealed by some sources that the applicants have found those multiple choice questions a bit too difficult to answer. Numbers which were known about the applicants had 250 lawyers, auditors, and accountants had appeared for the exam in September. But only 39 percent were able to clear the exam, which certainly doesn’t look like good numbers.
The results look like they have messed up plans of Malta government to transform Malta into a ‘Blockchain island,’ as the regulators will not be able to grant more than 100 licenses to the applicants in the first batch.
Everyone in the cryptocurrency community was aware of Malta’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation. This made it successful to attract major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Zebpay. It is crystal clear that the Malta government still hasn’t found a solution to implement the cryptocurrency industry in an efficient and reliable way.
Blockchain startups might need to study more about their own business to clear the exam to get a valid license to operate in Malta.
All of the Blockchain firms are seeing a high potential & maximum benefit in Malta, so let’s see how the second batch would perform in the next exam. Stay tuned for more information on Blockchain Technology as we cover every news in this domain for our readers.
