Gibraltar’s first DLT business scales back its plans, for now

Coinfloor, the first company to be granted a Distributed Ledger Technology [DLT] licence on the Rock, will be scaling back its plans for Gibraltar “for the time being” due to a downturn in the global market for cryptocurrencies.

Coinfloor is one of the UK’s oldest cryptocurrency exchanges dating back to 2012 and focuses primarily on Bitcoin trading, with offices in London and Gibraltar.

But the company’s latest decision comes just three months after it was given the green light by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission to push ahead with its Gibraltar operation.

The past year has seen Bitcoin slump in price from a peak of £14,500 in December, 2017, for one Bitcoin to its current worth of some £2,500.

A spokesman for Coinfloor told the Chronicle that the decision to scale back was taken as a result of deteriorating market conditions.

“Coinfloor Group has completed a review of the operations in all its subsidiaries in line with current market conditions,” a spokesman said.

“As a result, CFE Limited (Coinfloor Gibraltar) is scaling back its operation for the time being.”

“CFE Limited remains active and will scale back up its operation once market conditions recover.”

Coinfloor will continue its business in London and says on its website that it is “passionate about Bitcoin”.

The company aims to create a “safe and accessible” place to trade and invest in Bitcoin.

The Gibraltar Government moved fast last year to create a regulatory framework for DLT businesses in a bid to attract leading operators such as Coinfloor.

But the company’s decision to hold off developing its Gibraltar operation for now, coupled to downbeat market sentiment, could dampen initial hopes for this fledgling sector.

The Gibraltar Government did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.