We have seen some of the biggest crypto Exchanges, like Binance and OkEx moved to Malta and another bigger exchange Bittrex is also considering to open their office in Malta.
But why Malta?
One obvious reason is that the government announced in January that it was in the process of establishing a Virtual Currency Act and a Digital Innovation Authority and that both will provide a regulatory framework to allow crypto companies to operate.
Malta did similar with Gambling as well and it became a huge Gambling hub soon. Now, Malta wants to attract cryptocurrency businesses to its shores, and has already been successful in nabbing some of the biggest. The government had been promising to set up regulations for the industry and provide a better environment to them in future.
It's all about paying the lesser taxes as possible for a company lol. There are a lot of crypto-friendly countries and Malta isn't the most open mind, there some more than Malta. But it's all about attracting startup in the countries to collect their taxes. Malta created a "friendly" system and then companies have been welcomed. But if it wasn't about the millions of dollars swimming in the pool, Malta wouldn't care about a company in the crypto industry...
Money and capitalism matter...