Gibraltar Stock Exchange Gets Purchase Proposal from Blockchain Firm

The stock exchange of British territory Gibraltar has gotten a purchase offer from Valereum, a blockchain firm. If effective, the purchase would happen in 2022 and it will help make Gibraltar Stock Exchange the first bourse where people would be able to trade both cryptocurrencies and stocks simultaneously. Currently, the regulators are considering the offer they have received. If the deal goes through, there is no doubt that Gibraltar will make history because it will become the first territory to have a mixed bourse, as investors will have both stocks and crypto assets at their disposal. The Gibraltar Stock Exchange is the primary bourse of the British territory and 80% of the bourse would be acquired by the blockchain firm.

Valereum is also based in Gibraltar and would leave 20% of the bourse to the actual owner of the company known as the Global Stock Exchange Group. An option for this acquisition had been signed between the two companies back in October, where the company had announced their intention of completing the deal. However, they had not chosen to disclose any details to the public. According to the option reveal document, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) would have to give their approval for exercising the option. 

The blockchain firm would be required to get the approval of the GFSC for establishing GSX as one of the first fully regulated, integrated digital and fiat exchanges in the world. The report also said that if the deal passes, the group would aim to integrate crypto in the bourse. There have been a series of reactions from people keeping an eye out on the outcome and experts about the possible approval of the said deal. Chariman of Valereum, Richard Poulden, is very optimistic about the deal. He said that is another step in the evolution of digital assets that would make them tradeable on a worldwide scale. But, not everyone has the same optimism about the deal.

A lot of people are worried about the effect it would have on the kind of oversight the country would be subjected to from other regulator groups, such as the FATF (Financial Action Task Force). A consulting firm, Forensic Risk Alliance’s partner, Charlie Steele said that doing this could result in facilitating or enabling sanctions evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing, so people really need to think about that as well. A purchase agreement had also been signed by Valereum with the Juno Group. 

This is a trust management firm that will provide custody services to people for the crypto assets they acquire via the exchange, even if regulators need to ratify the deal. All of this is an indication of how mainstream cryptocurrencies are becoming and that they will continue to do so in the future. If the bourse does end up adding crypto assets, it would undoubtedly be a major accomplishment for the entire industry because it would establish that these digital currencies are not going anywhere anytime soon and are here to stay in the long run.