PN: Community Chest Fund's fight for crypto donation highlights 'incompetent' government

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech has criticised the government after reports revealed the Malta Community Chest Fund has gone to court in a bid to enforce cryptocurrency donation pledges that are estimated to be worth €7 million.

Grech said this showed the “incompetence of this propaganda-driven government” and that the latest victims are cancer patients who are left short of €7 million for treatment.

The Times of Malta reported that the pledges, which were intended for cancer patients, were made to Instrina in 2018 as part of a campaign run by a Malta-based charity called Blockchain Charity Foundation, set up by Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange.

Subsequently, Binance never attempted to gain a cryptocurrency exchange licence in Malta and has since sought to liquidate this charity. 

The chest fund is headed by President George Vella. 

“And the money we donated to L-Istrina must be used to try and recover the funds in court. Where is Silvio Schembri now? Where is Joseph Muscat?” Grech asked.

The PN leader questioned whether this contract was something Prime Minister Robert Abela drafted when he was a legal consultant in the cabinet. 

“Blockchain Island could have been a reality, but because of its incompetence and corruption, this government turned it into a disaster. But not before using cancer patients to make it look like there was something in it for the Maltese citizen,” Grech said. 

Back in June, Fiance Minister Clyde Caruana has said that "significant issues" in the cryptocurrency sector flagged by the Financial Action Task Force contributed to Malta’s greylisting by the organisation.

READ MORE: Cosying up to crypto presented ‘significant issues’ for FATF, Caruana says