Polish cryptocurrency exchange BitBay is set to relocate its operations to the 'Blockchain Island' Malta after suspending its exchange activity in Poland.
BitBay said its exchange operations will be conducted by a new supplier in the jurisdiction of Republic of Malta, which is a cryptocurrency friendly nation.
BitBay's move comes nearly two months after two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, Binance and OKEx, announced plans to expand operations to Malta.
Poland's largest crypto-exchange's move follows Polish banks' unilateral decision not to cooperate and provide bank services to the exchange. The last bank will end its services at the end of May.
BitBay will terminate all contracts with its users as of September 17. Afterwards, trading on the BitBay exchange in Poland will be suspended and users will be able to only withdraw funds from their accounts.
Meanwhile, access to the account in Polish zloty (PLN) will not be possible from end of May. All other functions of the BitBay exchange in Poland will still be active until September 17.
The Polish government's stance on cryptocurrencies has been tough even after it recognized trading and mining of them.
On the other hand, Malta is actively building a supportive regulatory and technical infrastructure for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLTs), ICOs and virtual currencies to become the world's first blockchain-regulated state.
The Maltese government had announced plans earlier this year for the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, which aims to provide legal certainty for the use of blockchain technology, and by extension, cryptocurrencies.
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