Seven European Union countries have established a new group to promote the usage of distributed ledger technology (DLT).
On Tuesday, France, Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain formed a group called the “Mediterranean Seven” and signed a declaration, titled the “Southern European Countries Ministerial Declaration on Distributed Ledger Technologies,”
Invest Cyprus has teamed with blockchain startup VeChain and blockchain advisory firm CREAM to explore blockchain use cases in Cyprus.
Invest Cyprus is a non-profit national body and the government’s dedicated partner responsible for attracting and facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI) in key economic sectors.
The Cyprus cabinet has appointed a joint working group to develop blockchain technology.
Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said this was “an important decision for the country’s future development and adjustment in the digital era.”
No members have been named as yet to the newly formed panel.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) will be creating an innovation hub to explore financial and regulatory technologies, including blockchain.
The innovation hub, which is expected to become operational in September, will be a place where both supervised and non-supervised entities in innovative or new industries will have ongoing access to CySEC to best understand and implement their regulatory requirements.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC) is planning to use blockchain technology to facilitate digital payments.
CYSEC chair Demetra Kalogirou stated that some Cypriot investment firms have already been using blockchain to carry out over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, and added that the commission has issued a circular imposing restrictions on supervised companies.
