The University of Gibraltar and China-based Huobi’s educational arm, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the development of blockchain education and research initiatives. Albert Isola MP, Gibraltar’s Minister for Commerce formally exchanged the document on behalf of the University of Gibraltar along with Jianing Yu President of Huobi’s educational arm, during his visit to Beijing this week.

The agreement is geared towards promoting cooperation in education, academic research, the development and collaboration of academic programmes, and the creation and delivery of short courses in key areas including blockchain, cryptotechnology, and fintech.

“We are very excited at the prospect of future collaborations between Huobi and the University of Gibraltar, particularly as a means of accelerating the establishment of high quality blockchain-focused educational initiatives. Both parties share an ambition to promote high-level academic research around the burgeoning DLT landscape, and I look forward to seeing this vision take shape,” concluded Minister Isola.

Vice-Chancellor at the University of Gibraltar, Professor Catherine Bachleda added, “The University of Gibraltar is already actively engaged in the blockchain, DLT and FinTech educational landscape, providing professional and tertiary courses. We are very much looking forward to advancing knowledge in this exciting new world through research.”

President of Huobi’s educational arm, Dr. Yu Jianing said that it is an education and research institution focusing on the frontier fields of new distributed business models, new applications of blockchain technology, and new digital finance systems.  The goal is to cultivate top entrepreneurs and investors in the blockchain field. They have been delivering the courses in China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, and have trained more than 1,000 blockchain industry elites.  Strategic cooperation with the University of Gibraltar is an important step towards the internationalization of the Huobi University, and both parties will launch a series of English-oriented courses for entrepreneurs and investors around the world in the future.

Minister Isola said, “Huobi has a rich history of working with the Gibraltar Government in the pursuit of blockchain innovation. The company was awarded a full DLT licence from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) in November 2018, and Huobi recognises the intrinsic link between the development of blockchain education offerings and mainstream DLT adoption — a sentiment that has fuelled Gibraltar’s ascent as a global blockchain powerhouse.”

With operations established worldwide, Huobi is one of the largest exchanges operating in the blockchain industry and has established compliance service teams across the globe to ensure a customer-centric approach.

In June, Albert Isola MP, Gibraltar’s Minister for Commerce attended and delivered the keynote speech at a blockchain seminar organised by Huobi Group in Beijing. The ‘Discover Gibraltar with Huobi’ event provided extensive insight into Gibraltar’s evolving Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ecosystem and supportive regulatory environment. The Huobi seminar included panel sessions on blockchain regulation and fintech development with a number of prominent Chinese blockchain academics from leading Chinese universities and professionals participating in the discussions.

Minister Isola was accompanied at the ceremony by Gibraltar Finance Senior Executives Michael Ashton and Paul Astengo. Yang Jun, Vice President of Huobi Education, David Chen, VP of Huobi, Wang Yan, General Manager of Huobi Club, and Pan Dong, Deputy General Manager of Huobi Club, attended the signing ceremony as well.

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