The Malta Stock Exchange is joining forces with leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance to support fin-tech start-ups and entrepreneurs with the launch of the MSX FinTech Accelerator Programme.

The programme, based at the Malta Stock Exchange, will establish an ecosystem to nurture and support companies, including a mentoring scheme which will match international technology and media leaders with fintech and crypto start-ups.

In addition to Binance, the programme has also signed up other exchanges including Thomson Reuters as mentors. The programme sponsor, the Malta Stock Exchange, will offer start-ups access to professional business services and facilities including in-house accounting services and payroll, as well as office space, state-of-the-art communication, conference rooms and a training centre.

The Accelerator Centre will capitalise on Malta’s growing prominence as a global hub for crypto and blockchain innovation. Malta is now home to three exchanges including two of the five biggest.

This is supported by Malta’s first mover status as an innovative and pragmatic regulator of blockchain technology. The proposed regulatory framework will offer legal certainty in a space that is currently unregulated, providing certification of DLT platforms and related smart contracts, a regime for the approval of ICOs and the service providers.

“It is clear that Malta is becoming a fintech and blockchain centre of excellence and we want to allow local and foreign companies the ability to bring their ideas to the market faster,” Malta Stock Exchange chairman Joseph Portelli said.

“This programme offers foreign entrepreneurs easy access to a readymade solution at one of Malta’s most prestigious addresses – the Malta Stock Exchange.”

“We moved our operations to Malta precisely because it has demonstrated its progressive approach to supporting and developing the crypto and blockchain industry,” a Binance spokesman said.

“Malta is creating a safe and legislated environment for the industry to become reputable, attracting companies like ours and many others.

“The Malta Stock Exchange reflects these values, providing the infrastructure for entrepreneurs and start-ups to flourish in what is otherwise a highly-competitive industry.”