Albert Isola, the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar’s Minister of Digital Financial Services, recently Cointelegraph He said he was collecting Bitcoin for his kids as he believes crypto adoption will skyrocket in the future.
He said:
“I’m not yet at the stage where it’s something I use on a regular basis, it’s about buying some for the benefit of my kids in the next few years. I won’t touch it.”
There are places to accept cryptocurrency payments, but Isola said actual adoption will increase as more and more jurisdictions regulate it.
Cryptocurrency Gibraltar
Gibraltar has been making cryptocurrency-friendly decisions since 2018. In early 2018, Gibraltar passed a series of regulations on blockchain-related businesses. Then, in February 2018, the country began working on the rules of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). At that time, Gibraltar was the first sovereign state to regulate ICOs.
In August 2018, the country announced that it would pay football teams in cryptocurrencies next season. This makes them the first soccer team in the world to be paid in cryptocurrencies.
At the end of 2021, Gibraltar took cryptocurrency considerations one step further by deciding to incorporate blockchain technology into government processes. In December 2021, the government announced that it would deploy a blockchain-based pilot program to provide public services.
The country’s latest step in cryptographic regulation was to protect the already growing crypto ecosystem. The Government of Gibraltar has announced new rules to limit the manipulation of price, liquidity or market information. This also made Gibraltar the first government to set up a regulatory framework for market integrity.
Robust but open to collaboration
In October 2018, the UK Cryptographic Exchange Coinfloor became the first crypto company to obtain a blockchain license from Gibraltar. At that time, the country’s detailed regulation and long licensing process were perceived as strict. Since then, the government has taken a partnership-focused approach in the field of cryptocurrencies while strictly enforcing regulation.
Isola explained that he would never extend the rules to anyone. He said:
“If they [DLT companies] It is not licensed because it is not ready to meet the regulatory and quality standards we aim for. “
Gibraltar has already produced excellent results and is confident that its formula will work. The country has applied the same rigorous yet collaborative approach to the gaming industry since 2014. According to Isola, this formula is very effective, with about 15 gaming companies currently established in Gibraltar, accounting for 75% of online games in the UK.
