Bitcoin Global News (BGN)
December 11, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- By now, most of
you know about Malta’s supposed status as the Blockchain island.
Despite Malta’s popularity in the press, only the Virtual Financial
Assets Act seems to carry a large amount of weight toward its’
claim. In the past few weeks especially, Gibraltar seems to be
poised to take its’ apparent title.
Beginning with the announcement
that the crypto wing of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange had become
officially licensed and ending most recently with the news that
crypto investments can now be insured in the country, some would
say Malta has been left behind to an extent.
At the same time, the crypto news
from Malta has not exactly been quiet. Companies continue to pour
into its’ borders due to its’ relaxed yet defined stance on
everything Blockchain. Just look at the fact that after Binance
moved there, the number of Malta-based blockchain firms seems to
have ballooned, which is evident from those represented at Malta’s
Blockchain Summit this year.
In short, from being almost
completely under the radar last year, Malta seemed to have become
the go-to place for ICOs to launch this November. Now, however, the
tides may be turning. With Gibraltar’s insurance of something that
was supposed to be uninsurable, institutional investors may turn to
their shores to engage with ICOs with a tide of new
capital.
On the other hand, any chance of
this happening depends on their insurance scheme truly working. To
understand if this is possible, it’s also necessary to clarify that
it all hinges on the efforts of one insurance company called
Callaghan Insurance that is native to Gibraltar. On the Gibraltar
Blockchain Exchange’s website, the company makes it clear that
Callaghan will fully cover all assets that are under the exchange’s
custody.
To quickly recap, this means that
anything that any crypto coins that the GBX stores will be
guaranteed under this agreement. As these include volatile assets
with an uncertain future like BitcoinSV as well as more stable
assets like Bitcoin itself, it will be interesting to see as time
goes on, whether Callaghan’s coverage is enough to bring in more
risk-averse investors.
Working in their favor is the fact
that all sorts of user wallets will be included in the plan. Until
we know more of the details, however, it is nearly impossible to
predict whether this effort will succeed over the long term with
crypto’s wild price swings.
By: BGN Editorial Staff