The Maltese government has awarded 19 students blockchain scholarships worth a total of 160,000 euro ($179,000), local publication the Malta Independent reports May 23.

The scholarships were granted by Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, using the $351,000 scholarship fund that was set up by Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MITA) and the University of Malta in August 2018.

According to the Malta Independent, all the awardees will further apply for a Master's degree in blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT), with separate groups of students specializing in blockchain studies relating to law, finance, business, and ICT.

The scholarships were announced during the ongoing Malta AI and Blockchain Summit, with Schembri claiming that the given scholarships represent the first awards of its kind.

Along with the scholarship announcement, Schembri also stated that the Malta Financial Services Authority will issue the first licences to blockchain companies this year. He noted that by the end of 2018, the amount of blockchain firms operating from Malta reached 800.

In April, the MFSA approved the first 14 crypto assets agents out of more than 250 entities that applied previously. The approval followed the adoption of the Virtual Financial Assets Act enforced by Maltese authorities in summer 2018.

Recently, Turkish Bahçeşehir University launched a blockchain center at Boston's Northeastern University to offer informational assistance on blockchain tech.