Barely a day goes by without crypto exchange giant Binance announcing more trailblazing moves to further expand its ever-growing empire. Today’s developments concern what is touted to be the world’s first ever decentralized, blockchain-based, community-owned bank, which is to be part funded by Binance and based, like the exchange itself, on the tiny European Union island state of Malta.
Founders Bank will differentiate itself from other banks by being owned by a community of people who buy equity in the business through a pioneering kind of token sale. The bank will be offering equity tokens through the fundraising group Neufund, a blockchain-based platform which enables organizations to tokenize their equity and sell it through equity token offerings (ETOs).
Equity tokens are legally-binding form of equity in a company and guarantee investors the same rights and protections as shares, whilst at the same time being designed to be bought and traded as crypto assets. The bank already has an array of high-profile backers, including Binance and the Maltese Government itself.
Malta have made a series of crypto-friendly policy moves recently, and passed a string of bills earlier this month to pave the way for further blockchain and crypto development. The Malta Digital Innovation Authority Act, the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act and the Virtual Financial Asset Act lay down government policy across a range of areas including the future regulation, delivery and promotion of blockchain projects.
Earlier this year the Maltese PM Joseph Muscat remarked that he aimed to make the country “the jurisdiction of quality and choice for world class fintech companies” and has enthusiastically referred to Malta as “blockchain island.” This latest development further establishes Malta as a world-leader in crypto policy and practice.
