‘I used to use Blockchain.com to buy game items… now I’m CEO of its Malta hub’

Major crypto company Blockchain.com has officially opened its Malta office to serve as its European hub, a significant coup to the country’s ambitions to attract companies that deal in emerging technologies. 

For Fiorentina D’Amore, CEO of the new Malta hub, her relationship with Blockchain.com is more than business. It’s the platform she had used to open her first bitcoin wallet back in 2011.

“I used to play online games of war and I had used bitcoin to purchase game items,” she told MaltaCEOs.mt. “Back then, one bitcoin cost around €2.50 but it has since gone up to a maximum of over €100,000.”

“It is no longer something that is just nice to have but an integral part of the world’s financial systems and economies.”

Blockchain.com is certainly one of the largest and oldest players in the global crypto sector.  

As of the start of 2026, it supports over 90 million users and has facilitated over $1 trillion in cryptocurrency transactions.

Ms D’Amore has long been a proponent of regulating and professionalising the crypto industry, a stance that was viewed with scepticism by people in the field.

When launching the new Blockchain.com offices yesterday, she recalled telling the Delta Summit in Malta seven years ago that the crypto sector would eventually be regulated and subject to compliance and anti-money laundering rules. 

“They were all against it because crypto was seen as the symbol of freedom and financial anarchy,” she recounted. 

“However, just five years later I was invited to another panel, this time to discuss MiCA (Malta’s Markets in Crypto Assets licensing framework).”

“Crypto isn’t just a dream or a phase but an integrated reality in the Maltese economy and the world’s financial system. Malta turned out to truly be a blockchain island.”

Blockchain.com co-founder Nicolas Cary praised Malta as a “beacon for the crypto and blockchain industry” and applauded the Maltese administration for its “technological fluency”.

“The [MiCA] law is pioneering for companies like us and we’re pleased to bring the Blockchain.com brand to Blockchain Island."

Several high-profile people attended the Blockchain.com launch, including Prime Minister Robert Abela, who said the investment is a result of a strategic government decision to regulate the space some years back. 

“From fintech and remote gaming to digital assets, Malta is a jurisdiction that is willing to understand and regulate new models with the intention of creating a credible environment for serious operators,” he said. 

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri, who had pioneered the crypto laws, said the government recognised early on that if the industry was to grow, it had to uphold the highest standards of transparency and compliance.