New Malta Bankers Association Chairman Praises Blockchain, Says Crypto 'Here to Stay'
June 19 2018 - 10:44AM
ADVFN Crypto NewsWire
Marcel Cassar, the newly appointed chairperson of the Malta Bankers Association, said that blockchain tech sounds like a “banker’s dream.” Cassar
also claimed that cryptocurrencies are “here to stay,” according to
a June 17 interview with local news outlet The Malta Independent.
Cassar begins the interview by noting that the banking industry
has to keep up with the fast-changing digital world, making the
comparison of the present environment to “rush-hour gridlock
trapping a Formula 1 car.” This slowdown, in his opinion, means
that although blockchain sounds like a “banker’s dream” and a
“total game-changer,” due to its authentic and reliable transaction
records, it won’t be able to implemented widely right away:
“Going by our experience of technological innovation, a
blockchain revolution of business and government could still be
years away because many barriers would need to fall in the
meantime.”
However, Cassar does underline that blockchain is not a
disruptive technology, but instead a foundational technology that
can “create new platforms for our economic and social
infrastructure.”
Cassar then distinguishes between currencies and payment
technologies — “the currency is the ‘what’ while the payment
technology is the ‘how’” — noting that cryptocurrencies are the
medium of exchange, while the payment system is a separate entity.
He brings up the still-unanswered questions of defining
cryptocurrencies and their regulation, noting that he sees them as
no threat in “the short or medium term:”
“But what it means for banks is that their traditional role as
main payment intermediary for funds and currency transmission will
become challenged, if not obsolete.”
Even though Cassar notes that cryptocurrencies are risky due to
their connection to money laundering and their volatility, he still
thinks they are “here to stay,” adding that once regulation
improves, “some may reap first mover advantages.”
Malta has been referred to as a “blockchain island” due to their
welcoming of several large crypto exchanges to the country,
including Binance, OKEx, and BitBay. Binance announced in an
exclusive to Cointelegraph at the beginning of June that they had
set up a bank account in Malta,
bringing it a step closer to offering fiat-crypto deposits and
withdrawals on its platform.
Cassar commented on the introduction of the crypto exchanges to
Malta, acknowledging that “this is an area of unknown and
unprecedented compliance risk for our banks:”
“We need to be sure of what enhanced risk management and
compliance capabilities the banks are putting in place because
there are also other important linkages that need to be protected,
among others our correspondent banking networks which still see
these technologies as new and susceptible to risk of criminal
abuse.”
A Cointelegraph Expert Take last week also
explored Malta’s role in the crypto sphere in regards to the
European Union’s TAX3 investigation, concluding that
Malta will remain a crypto “trail blazer” due to its favorable
crypto tax laws and three new crypto-related bills adopted in
April.
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