Asset class
Crypto accounts in Malta
A crypto position "in Malta" usually means the platform or custodian is Malta-incorporated, not that the coins sit in a Maltese court's reach. Refusal to return typically traces to one of three layers: the platform's terms, the wallet or ledger infrastructure, and the corporate entity that holds client assets. Which layer failed determines what can be established next, not the fact that Malta is named on a welcome page. How crypto and platform accounts sit before a refusal sets out the general mechanics this page applies to Malta.
Register and custody layer
Two records exist side by side and rarely match in a dispute. The blockchain register shows every movement of the asset itself, public and permanent. The platform's internal ledger shows what the platform says you are owed, and that is the record a Maltese custodian actually controls. A refusal to move funds is a refusal on the internal ledger, not on the chain. Establishing which entity keeps that ledger, and whether it is the licensed operator or a related company, is the first fact a file needs. Where documents produced in Malta must later be used before a court or authority abroad, or the reverse, authentication follows the Apostille route, in force for Malta since 1968.[N406]
The document rarely handed over
Investors are given account statements and transaction summaries. What they are rarely given is a custody statement that names the specific wallet or omnibus account holding their coins and identifies who controls the private keys. Without that document, a claim rests on the platform's word about what it holds, not on a verifiable chain of control. The absence of the document is itself informative: it usually means the platform pools client assets and cannot, or will not, separate one client's holding from the pool on request. What determines whether a crypto position is actually secured covers this in more detail.
What belongs in a pre-deal report
A 6D report checks facts, not intentions. For a Malta-linked platform this includes: the exact licensed entity behind the account, distinct from any group brand name; whether custody is segregated or pooled; whether the custody statement, if one exists, names specific addresses; and whether any document produced for the file will need legalisation for use outside Malta, where the Apostille route applies.[N406] It also maps the intermediary chain between the client-facing platform and whoever actually holds the keys, since that chain is often longer than the website suggests.[see how the intermediary chain behind a crypto account is built]
A paid initial assessment does not estimate an outcome. It reviews what documentation exists, identifies which layer of the custody chain the refusal sits in, and sets out what a file would need before anything is sent to the platform. That review is where a Malta-linked file is looked at before a claim, a complaint, or a settlement offer goes anywhere. Platform and frozen account review covers what that assessment includes.