The government of Gibraltar announced on Friday that it is now on track to providing regulatory certainty in the blockchain field by January 2018. The legislation has been designed to provide an efficient, safe and innovative regulatory framework for firms engaging in activities not otherwise subject to regulation.

This is a key milestone for a process that started in 2014 with Gibraltar’s creation of the Cryptocurrency Working Group.

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Albert Isola MP, Minister of Commerce, commented, “I am delighted and excited in equal measure to publish this legislation today, after an extended period of thinking, consultation and review with the Industry and experts in this field. I am most grateful to the DLT Working Group, Sian Jones, Nicky Gomez and the team at the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and to the individuals who have willingly shared their insight in the creation of this framework. I believe this framework will provide strong long term economic opportunity across many key areas of our economy. International reaction to our initiative has been overwhelmingly positive and reaffirmed our ability to embrace change in a safe and regulated environment; we have done this before and will do so again. The DLT framework positions Gibraltar as a jurisdiction which facilitates innovation whilst ensuring it continues to meet its regulatory and strategic objectives.”

Samantha Barrass, CEO of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, said: “Today’s publication places Gibraltar at the forefront of the regulation of Distributed Ledger Technology businesses and is a wonderful example of what can be achieved through greater collaboration among industry, government and the regulator. I truly believe that this regulatory framework demonstrates that regulators can keep up to date with technology without stifling innovation, protect consumers and create a well-regulated safe environment in which financial technology can flourish.”