Feetham discusses crypto legislation changes at leading digital asset conference

The Minister for Trade, Industry and Finance, Nigel Feetham discussed updating Gibraltar’s cryptocurrency legislation during a two-day conference in Hong Kong.

Mr Feetham was interviewed by CoinDesk at Consensus Hong Kong where he underscored the importance for Gibraltar to remain at the cutting edge of the crypto industry.

He relayed the message that Gibraltar is open for business, and he described how the local DLT framework introduced in 2017 needs to be tweaked to move with the times.

“There are a number of areas where certainly we need to be more progressive,” Mr Feetham told CoinDesk.

He said he expects for a draft in the statute book within the next few months and added that this is an exciting time for Gibraltar.

Mr Feetham said the ambition is to grow the crypto sector in Gibraltar.

“We can’t wait for tomorrow, it’s here now, so we’re actively working on a number of legislative initiatives, and I hope by the end of this calendar year we will be in a much, much advanced area,” he said.

He added that Gibraltar has a record number of applications, which are being processed.

Consensus attracted close to 10,000 attendees from over 100 countries.

Mr Feetham described how Gibraltar has leading DLT firms licenced in Gibraltar.

“We want quality over quantity,” Mr Feetham said.

“We’re not a jurisdiction with a large number of licensees, we want small niche players that can make a difference rather than opening the doors to everyone.”

“That is not what we have done historically in other areas and that is not what we are doing in this area.”