The minister for digital and financial services, Albert Isola, told an audience in London last week that even though Gibraltar would rather stay in the EU and enjoy the best of both worlds, “the fact is 92 per cent of Gibraltar’s business is with the UK.”

Gibraltar has a population of about 35,000, and 90 per cent of them voted to remain in the EU. For all that, however, Isola said: “We feel we couldn’t be better placed despite every challenge Brexit has brought up.”

In September, after years of negotiation, Gibraltar finally signed a double tax agreement with the UK and has spent the last three years threading together a financial services bill that will provide smooth passage for those doing business across the EU, including continued passporting into the UK for funds and firms.

A major hurdle is getting a similar tax agreement reached with its dominant Spanish neighbour, and off Spain’s black list as a tax haven. “It is hard to find us on any OECD low-tax list, but with Spain, we are working hard there,” said Joey Imossi, director at trust and corporate services firm , as well as crypto futures and options exchanges which now operate from there.

The territory argues that a lack of clear regulation has been holding blockchain development back in Europe, and in some cases causing startups to fail. Reports have this at over 1,000 failed crypto projects last year. Marketing itself as the “first jurisdiction to develop a purpose-built regulatory framework” supporting DLT, Gibraltar has been swift to roll out the welcome mat, while larger territories have largely sat on the sidelines undecided about what good regulation looks like in the face of such a fast-moving and disruptive sector.

(Editor's note: It is interesting to see Gibraltar striving to take a sanguine view of Brexit. Before the June 2016 vote it appeared that local UK commentators and those on the continent seemed to be far more preoccupied with Gibraltar's future status if the UK left the EU than they were about the Northern Ireland border issue. As we know, the latter concern has actually dominated much of the debate. Gibraltar's situation, by contrast, appears not to have generated nearly as much heat. But it is still a matter to watch. With rival Mediterranean jurisdictions such as Malta, Monaco and Cyprus angling for business, Gibraltar's leaders cannot afford any complacency.)