The world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, OKEx is moving to Malta according to an official press release.
The decision was made after receiving a warning from Japanese regulators.
After meeting with the Maltese cryptocurrency watchdog, the OKEx team has confidence in the Maltese government’s approach towards cryptocurrency. Hence they’ve decided to make Malta their foundation and centre of operations.
OKEx CEO Chris Lee stated:
“We look forward to working with the Malta government as it is forward thinking and shares many of our same values: the most important of which are protection of traders and the general public, compliance with Anti Money Laundering and Know Your Customer standards, and recognition of the innovation and importance of continued development in the Blockchain ecosystem.”
OKEx Follows Binance to Malta
OKEx Is Expanding To Malta Given Country’s Comprehensive Blockchain Initiatives.https://t.co/CrE4wEPOuq pic.twitter.com/nMfKFl4N1g
— OKEx (@OKEx_) April 12, 2018
Since announcing the creation of Malta Digital Innovation Authority and releasing the regulatory framework proposal for ICOs and blockchain-based companies, Malta has been in the crypto-world spotlight.
The small island in the Mediterranean is slowly becoming recognised as the blockchain hub of not only Europe but also on the global arena.
Until recently, the government has been careful with releasing any information regarding future cryptocurrency-related plans. Most news was centred around proposals and general idea.
However, this has changed after announcing that Binance – the world’s largest exchange by trade volume – is relocating to Malta from Hong Kong due to the evolving regulations for cryptocurrency businesses.
Attracting such a significant name within the industry set the tone for the rest and automatically positioned Malta as the number one place for those looking into virtual currencies.
While no official regulatory framework was released yet, the news about Binance and OKEx moving to Malta is undoubtedly a positive sign on their own.
Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri said that the OKEx announcement is a certificate of trust in Malta:
“The fact that Malta is at the forefront in launching a regulatory framework that regulates this sector by means of setting up an authority, in itself has attracted the interest of global companies such as Binance and OKEx.”
OKEx is the number two ranked cryptocurrency exchange by 24-hour trading volume on CoinMarketCap, currently trading around $1.6 bln over a 24 hour period. The company is also one of the leading digital-asset-only exchanges, offering token-to-token and futures-like trading. OKEx serves millions of customers in over 100 countries.
Read more about Malta Becoming The First Blockchain Regulated State.
