Taiwan’s Financial Watchdog Set to Regulate Crypto Markets

In a recent statement, Taiwan’s FSC Chairman Huang Tian-mu confirmed that the regulatory body will oversee the country’s cryptocurrency market.

This comes as Taiwan strengthens its crypto regulations, with the FSC taking responsibility for regulating cryptocurrency payments and transactions.

The FSC will focus on ensuring trading platforms separate crypto assets from those owned by their clients, while also supervising the platforms’ product listings and customer protection measures.

Huang noted that the FSC will soon make a formal announcement and will also discuss self-regulating guidelines with domestic crypto platforms.

Taiwanese lawmakers have been calling for a central agency to regulate the crypto sector, with Tseng Ming-Chung, a former FSC chair, advocating for the newly-established Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) to take on this role.

MODA focuses on digital innovation and could provide a more ideal central governing agency to regulate all aspects of crypto assets, according to Tseng.

Currently, the central bank and the FSC view crypto assets as highly speculative virtual commodities, rather than currencies.

The FSC introduced anti-money laundering rules for crypto service providers in July 2021, and the regulator has also asked banks and credit card companies not to allow credit cards as a means of payment for virtual assets services.

Taiwanese authorities have become more aware of crypto risks since the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, with Taiwan accounting for roughly 3% of FTX’s global customer total.

Last month, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice said it is considering regulations that would require government officials and employees to report their crypto asset holdings under local property declaration laws.