American venture capitalist investor and founder of Draper Associates Tim Draper spoke at the official launch of the build-up for the Delta Summit 2018, and described Malta as being at the forefront on how to best regulate blockchain technology.

The launch was presented by Abdalla Kablan, CEO of the Delta Summit - which is the Maltese government's official digital innovation event focusing on blockchain technology and the crypto community. The summit will be held in Malta this October 3rd to 5th. The summit will be an event where the world's top leaders, pioneers and entrepreneurs and thinkers will meet to share their insights about what is happening in the industry, noted Kablan.

Kablan also said that this summit coincided with an important time in Malta, as it was about to become one of the first countries in the world to regulate technology services and arrangements from Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Blockchain, artificial intelligence and the internet of things are such examples explained Kablan. He also mentioned that the summit would be an opportunity for companies to meet with the regulators to know what is going on in Malta.

Silvio Schembri, the junior minister for financial services, digital economy and innovation was also present at what was described as a fireside chat. Schembri explained how the process started with the proposal being put forward in the electoral manifesto. He explained that last November a blockchain taskforce was set-up which then resulted in a document entitled "Malta a leader in DLT regulation". This was sent out for public consolation as well as internal discussions to eventually result in three bills. Schembri noted that the three bills were proposed for first reading and now passed on to the second reading and as a result are now available online for public viewing. The bills are establishing the Malta Digital Innovation Authority which will supervise and regulate the whole DLT sphere, the virtual financial asset act and the innovation technology and arrangement services act. Schembri said that this regulatory framework has had a ripple effect with several companies announcing they will operate from Malta. Schembri also mentioned that the Government was transferring most of its services on the blockchain.

Also present at the launch was Tugce Ergul, founder of Angel labs who mentioned she is considering setting her fund here in Malta. When questioned she said the Silicone Valley model cannot be replicated as every county has something unique to offer. She also noted that Malta has a lot of opportunities for well-funded startups to move here. Ergul explained that blockchain will become integrated into our everyday lives but we would not necessarily know we are using it.

Draper explained how most countries have tried to fit in their regulations for DLT into a current bureaucratic model but Malta had the forefront to form a separate regulatory framework. He explained that sometimes the bigger the country the harder it is to manage and as a result Malta, being a small country, had several opportunities in the industry. Draper said that Malta can benefit because people do not have to live here to get financing from here and vice versa for companies who are located in Malta but want funding from elsewhere. He emphasised that there were now no physical boundaries and companies can operate globally.

The Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat also sent a recorded message promoting the summit and referring to Malta as a 'trailblazer' in the industry.

Another recorded message was by Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance Exchange, one of the biggest corporations that has moved to Malta. Zhao described the bill as 'favourable', and having legal clarity in the blockchain space.