This area of technology is fast moving, exciting, job creating and no one knows where it will lead to and if or how it will end. Gibraltar has embraced it by introducing a regulatory regime to be managed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). 

As from 1st January 2018, any company operating in or from Gibraltar using DLT to store or transmit value belonging to others will need to be licensed by the GFSC.

In a recent article by Gibraltar FinTech legal specialists, Ramparts said, “the scale, speed of growth and increase in consumer awareness and involvement in the crypto sectors makes the need for independent oversight and review of operators in the sectors urgent. Customers and counterparties of crypto-operators rightly will expect that operators meet minimum standards in key areas including in respect of: protecting client assets; anti-money laundering; treating customers fairly; and ensuring that audits are carried out of assets and systems of control used by such operators.

Whilst most operators in the crypto-space have a strong desire to disrupt the existing financial services sectors, some basics remain timeless. That particularly applies to the need to protect customers and their assets, act with probity, have a good management team and financial processes. The smarter and better managed operators will realise the tremendous value that can be achieved by having a regulator and a licence for their crypto-related operations.”

Meanwhile, the Gibraltar Stock Exchange announced last month that it has the ambition to build a world-leading institutional-grade token sale platform and cryptocurrency exchange. The Exchange wants to be the global listing and trading exchange for utility tokens and tokenised securities that have satisfied a strict due diligence process and community code of conduct.

The financial technology sector represents huge growth potential for Gibraltar and will most likely counter the risks derived from any future Brexit deal. The legal and regulatory community is certainly embracing the opportunity and based on some small office rentals we closed shortly prior to Christmas, new start-ups are appearing throughout Gibraltar’s business districts.

The impact on property demand is clear. Entrepreneurs, employees, software developers and regulatory experts, all have to live and work somewhere.