Gibraltar Finance Report
Gibraltar prevails as a front runner in Crypto Regulation in a post-FTX world
By The Hon. Albert Isola MP, Minister for Digital and Financial Services HM Government of Gibraltar
I
take this opportunity to reflect on 2022,
activity not least in the exchanges — a
a year that has provided mostly, but not
perfect environment for the industry to
exclusively, negative trends for the digital
flourish. Return to December 2022, and
asset industry. What ultimately became
billions in customer assets remain trapped
a seriously challenging year for the
in bankrupted exchanges; EU lawmakers
industry started off positively, as the crypto
have further delayed the long-awaited MiCA
market reached a record-high valuation of
legislation; and the crypto market cap has
$3 trillion in November 2021. The NFT market
swiftly fallen from that all-time high of $3
soared and both Bitcoin and Ether individually
trillion to around $811 billion at the time of
reached all-time highs. However, as the year
writing.
ended, we examined the industry through a we witnessed the fall of several well-known
Descending into market turmoil
crypto exchanges, further delays in delivering
The widely reported collapse of exchanges
vital regulation, and the continuation of a long-
over the past year has understandably cast
lasting bear market.
a shadow over the positive developments in
more sober lens. Over the course of 2022,
In January 2022, we contemplated
the world of blockchain. In November 2022,
what had been a strong crypto market
we witnessed the spectacular collapse of
supported by an economy of consistently
FTX, which undeniably shook the digital asset
low-interest rates and intense commercial
industry. The effects of this event will be felt
Gibraltar International Magazine | Issue: Feb/Mar/Apr 2023