Malta Intends to Legalize Use of Cryptocurrencies at Online Casinos

19 MIN AGO
By Joshua Althauser
Malta Intends to Legalize Use of Cryptocurrencies at Online Casinos

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BRIEF
The government of Malta is advancing its plans to allow the legal use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin at online casinos.

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), which supervises both land-based and online casino operations in the country, has already commissioned a detailed technical study on how to effectively regulate the use of cryptocurrencies in gambling.

According to MGA Executive Chairman Joseph Cuschieri, they believe that Blockchain technologies and digital currencies are among the emerging innovations and they want to carefully assess the risks and opportunities that they present if adopted in the gaming sector.

Cuschieri says:

"The shape and form of the framework governing cryptocurrencies will be announced in due course and once the risk assessment is carried out. Once the results of the study are evaluated, the MGA will make its position official on how cryptocurrencies will be adopted."

The Maltese government’s cryptocurrency plans
The Maltese government believes in the potential of Blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies and plans to advance their development in the country aggressively. The aim is to position the county to become the leading user of Blockchain and digital currencies.

In his statement during the government’s launching of its Blockchain strategy in April 2017, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the country should be on the frontline in the adoption of Blockchain.

Muscat stated:

"We must be on the frontline in embracing this crucial innovation, and we cannot just wait for others to take action and copy them. We must be the ones that others copy."

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Economy, Silvio Schembri, has announced that the government is already committed to roll out distributed ledger technology in the public sector and to attract Blockchain companies in the project.