- Malta’s Virtual Financial Assets Act (Cap. 590) and ITAS Act (Cap. 592) establish statutory recognition, token classifications and licensing rules for VFA service providers.
- The MDIA Act (Cap. 591) enables certification of distributed ledger technology arrangements and smart contracts.
- Malta’s income tax and VAT guidance clarifies when digital assets are non-taxable, income-taxable or activity-linked.
- Trustees must address valuation, custody, governance and succession issues relating to digital keys and AI assets.
- Recent UK jurisprudence on AI-generated IP creates uncertainty affecting the administration and transferability of such assets.
Who Is This For?
Trustees, family offices, fiduciary service providers, private client lawyers, tax advisors, and entrepreneurs seeking to structure digital or AI-related wealth using Maltese trusts or foundations.
What This Means for You
Malta offers a regulatory, tax and governance framework that recognises digital and AI assets in private wealth structures. Trustees working with globally mobile families now have legislative clarity enabling compliant administration of cryptocurrency portfolios, tokenised investments and AI-generated intellectual property.
Original Article in STEP Journal
This contribution appears in a STEP Journal issue curated around fintech, AI and digital assets, exploring how technological change is reshaping estate planning, fiduciary governance and international tax. The edition features insights on AI-generated wills, the operational use of AI by trustees, PPLI structuring for digital portfolios, privacy risks for multigenerational families and developments in NFTs and digital artworks. It also includes regional commentary on regulatory developments across Europe and opens with a foreword by Gian Andri Töndury TEP, member of the STEP Journal Editorial Board. Against this backdrop, the analysis of Malta’s digital-asset framework forms part of a broader international conversation on the future of private wealth in the digital era.
Published in STEP Journal Issue 6 (2025), Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker TEP analyses Malta’s digital asset and trust framework.
>> Read Full Original Article in the STEP Journal here <<
Practical Insights from the Published Article
The STEP Journal article underscores how Malta’s early regulatory interventions—particularly the VFA Act and ITAS—created one of the first comprehensive legal ecosystems for digital and AI-derived assets. Priscilla Mifsud Parker highlights the combined importance of statutory definitions, licensing requirements and MDIA certification in giving trustees confidence to administer novel asset classes that traditional trust law was never designed to accommodate. She notes that as digital wealth becomes mainstream, trustees increasingly confront issues of valuation, custody, AML compliance and cross-generational continuity of digital keys.
“Digital and AI assets will continue to test the limits of existing legal concepts. Jurisdictions that anticipate these pressures and legislate thoughtfully will shape how trustees protect, transfer and sustain emerging forms of wealth. Malta’s framework reflects that forward-looking mindset.”
— Priscilla Mifsud Parker TEP, Senior Partner, originally published in STEP Journal Issue 6, 2025
Malta’s Legal Framework for Digital Assets
Malta was among the first jurisdictions to implement a dual legislative architecture for blockchain and digital assets:
- The Virtual Financial Assets Act defines VFAs, establishes a classification regime and requires MFSA licensing for custody, portfolio management, exchange and advisory services.
- The Innovative Technology Arrangements and Services Act allows MDIA certification of distributed ledger systems and smart contract protocols, providing assurance as to reliability, governance and auditability.
These measures provide trustees with statutory certainty when administering cryptocurrencies and tokenised positions. Complementary income tax and VAT guidance from the Malta Tax and Customs Administration reduces ambiguity in reporting and recognising gains.
AI-Generated IP: Emerging Judicial Trends
AI-generated intellectual property presents structural challenges. The STEP article contrasts two influential UK decisions:
- Thaler v Comptroller-General of Patents refused to recognise AI as an inventor.
- Emotional Perception AI Ltd v Comptroller-General of Patents [2024] EWCA Civ 825 held that a trained neural network may constitute a patentable invention.
These divergent outcomes matter for trustees because valuation, enforceability and transferability of AI-only assets depend heavily on the evolving legal definition of inventorship and authorship. Malta’s flexible trust and foundation regime offers practitioners room to adapt deeds and governance structures to accommodate such uncertainty.
Taxation of Digital, Crypto and AI Assets
Malta offers relative predictability:
- Cryptocurrencies used purely as a medium of exchange are not subject to capital gains tax.
- Income from token activity (staking, mining, commercial use) is taxed according to the underlying operations.
- Token swaps or initial offerings with no economic uplift fall outside income tax.
- For entrepreneurs relocating to Malta, corporate profit allocations may benefit from effective tax rates in the 5–10% range through Malta’s refund mechanism—a strategic advantage for AI-based business models centred on IP creation.
Using Maltese Trusts and Foundations for Digital & AI Assets
Malta’s trust and foundation law can accommodate both traditional and emerging assets, but trustees must address:
- Valuation volatility for cryptocurrencies and nascent IP categories.
- Custody arrangements, including cold storage and licensed custodians.
- Governance protocols for digital key management.
- Explicit deed authorisation enabling fiduciaries to hold, manage and dispose of digital or AI assets.
Where AI-generated works lack uniform protection in major jurisdictions, carefully drafted trust deeds can help reduce disputes by clarifying scope, power and fiduciary duties.
Practical Considerations for Trustees
Trustees administering digital wealth must ensure:
- AML, CRS and FATCA compliance frameworks remain robust.
- Reporting systems are updated to capture digital transactions and token movements.
- Succession planning addresses digital key continuity and governance of AI systems.
- Portfolio strategies consider volatility mitigation and risk diversification.
Malta’s structuring tools allow practitioners to embed these safeguards within long-established trust law principles.
Strategic Implications for Structuring
Priscilla’s STEP article concludes that Malta’s combined regulatory clarity, technological legislation and tax certainty create a coherent environment for trustees navigating digital wealth. As families increasingly integrate digital and AI-derived assets into their portfolios, jurisdictions offering legal certainty and adaptable structuring will become central to responsible fiduciary practice.
About the Author: Professional Contribution and Expertise
Dr Priscilla Mifsud Parker TEP is Senior Partner at Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates and a leading practitioner in private wealth structuring, taxation, trusts and foundations. She advises families, fiduciaries and family offices on complex cross-border structures involving digital assets, tokenised portfolios and AI-generated IP.
Her published work with STEP reflects over two decades of experience at the intersection of wealth planning, technology and regulatory policy.
Our Contribution to the STEP Community
Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates regularly contributes thought leadership to STEP through articles, conference participation and ongoing engagement with the private client advisory community. Our digital assets and private client teams collaborate across technology, trust law and taxation, enabling evidence-based commentary on emerging intersections between AI, tokenisation and fiduciary governance.
How Our Private Wealth & Digital Assets Lawyers Can Help You
Our Private Wealth, Technology and Tax practices work together to help trustees and families structure, safeguard and administer digital and AI-generated wealth. We advise on trust deed drafting, governance protocols, digital key succession planning, VFA compliance, MDIA certification considerations and tax treatment of crypto and AI assets within private wealth structures.
Copyright © 2026 Chetcuti Cauchi. This document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking any action based on the contents of this document. Chetcuti Cauchi disclaims any liability for actions taken based on the information provided. Reproduction of reasonable portions of the content is permitted for non-commercial purposes, provided proper attribution is given and the content is not altered or presented in a false light.
