A blockchain-based mobile network company is relocating to Malta, in an investment valued at €20 million.

YOVO will initially employ 30 team members at its Malta’s headquarters. CEO Richard Skaife said he was proud to start calling Malta, which it described as “the blockchain island”, the company’s home.

The company, which has yet to launch a working product, allows its users to earn its own-issued cryptocurrency token, YO, by completing a variety of micro-tasks.

Those tokens can then be exchanged for mobile services with partner mobile networks, with token holders also getting free virtual private network services, mobile phone insurance and other perks.

YOVO says it already has agreements in place with more than 500 mobile network carriers around the globe.

An alpha release of one of its products allowing users to manage and pay for their mobile services using cryptocurrency is expected to be released this month.

Digital Economy parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri, who had hinted at the company’s relocation in a parliamentary speech on Wednesday, thanked YOVO for its faith in Malta.

“It is evident that operators within this field are looking for legal certainty and that is what we, as a government, intend to provide,” Dr Schembri said.

Laws to create a regulatory framework for the blockchain sector and set up a Digital Innovation Authority to act as a regulator are currently before parliament at the second reading stage.