Taiwan orders financial watchdog to take over crypto regulations

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) was selected to take on the primary responsibility for crypto regulations on Mar. 20, as Forkast News reported.

The FSC’s new responsibility doesn’t include non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to Forkast News.

Crypto regulations

Taiwan’s FSC chair, Huang Tian-mu, unofficially announced the FSC’s new role, which was cited by local media outlets. Huang said that the government instructed the FSC to oversee crypto transactions and payments. Therefore, the financial watchdog will start with crypto exchange platforms.

According to Huang, the first order of business will be to make sure crypto exchanges separate their own assets from their depositors’. The FSC will also start supervising the exchanges’ product listings and customer protection measures.

With that being said, the watchdog will also evaluate the possibility of establishing a self-regulatory system for the local crypto platforms, as Huang noted.

Huang also added that the FSC would publish an official announcement of its new responsibility, which will include more details on the matter.

Taiwan on crypto

Taiwan is currently in the very early stages of creating crypto regulations. The country announced anti-money laundering rules for crypto service providers in July 2021. However, there have been no other initiatives on the regulatory front since then.

Being at the early stages of regulatory development paints a crypto-friendly portrait for Taiwan. Sora Venture‘s co-founder, Jason Fang, talked about the welcoming regulatory environment of Taiwan during an exclusive interview with CryptoSlate’s Liam Wright. Fang said he moved his company to Taiwan because the country offered more flexibility in regulations, allowing for exploring and experimenting with new ideas.

In the summer of 2022, the Taiwanese Central Bank announced that it started working on a central bank digital currency (CBDC). However, the bank didn’t disclose a target deadline for the launch of the currency.

Commenting on the CBDC project, the central bank chair said it was necessary for the young population. He stated:

“We still have to push forward. After all, most of the young people in the future will use mobile phones, so we have to think about the next generation.”