Muscat: Blockchain sector will be as big as financial sector, gaming industry

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is not the first nor the last company to set up shop in Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday.

Admitting that the introduction of the new sector will not be without its problems, Muscat said that the country will be a global pioneer in blockchain technology, as the company Binance announced its plans to employ over 200 people in Malta.

However, he insisted that companies coming to Malta are not doing so due to favourable tax systems. “They are coming to our country because we have a regulatory system which is the first of its kind, and I guarantee that it will be the best in the world.”

The government turns ‘challenges’ into ‘opportunities’, Muscat said, citing the medical sector as an example, saying that the country has one of the biggest American companies operating within it, which will give rise to an improved hospital in Gozo.

Muscat went on to comment on the recent result by the Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings, which reaffirmed Malta’s credit rating at ‘A’. The rating was achieved because the results produced by the country speak for themselves, he said.