Taiwan vs. Crypto – What’s The News?

Not so exciting news for crypto enthusiasts in Taiwan.

Although the country has a vibrant, market-based, capitalist, and high-tech economy, it does have specific crypto regulations.

The country’s financial authorities have published new rules prohibiting banks and credit card firms from accepting credit cards as payment for virtual asset services.

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission sent a letter to the country’s banking industry association earlier this month prohibiting credit card companies from accepting virtual asset service providers as merchants.

“Given that virtual assets are very speculative and high-risk,” the statement said, “credit cards should not be used to buy virtual assets.”

The government says that credit cards should be used to buy things and not to get money for speculative trading and financial investments.

The Supervisory Commission has also made it illegal to use credit cards to pay for online gambling, stocks, and other similar transactions, even though this is the case with cryptocurrencies, which it calls “highly speculative, high-risk, and highly leveraged transactions.”

Companies should adapt to new standards within three months. So, a strict period for those who are in the crypto industry in Taiwan.

Taiwan introduces the CBDC

What’s interesting is that Taiwan, in the meantime, has declared its plan to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Following the completion of technical simulation testing of the prototype retail CBDC last month, preparations for a pilot are expected to be finalized shortly.

While the country is creating CBDC, the Central Bank governor said it is still uncertain when it will be made publicly available. He thinks the banking regulator must overcome a few obstacles before a broader rollout for payments. For two years, the Bank of Taiwan has been looking into the potential applications of retail and wholesale CBDC. According to Atlantic Council Research, the central bank planned to finish the technical testing of the CBDC prototype by September.

Final remarks

Despite all of the mentioned prohibitions and limitations, Taiwan has no laws governing Bitcoin exchanges, and three of the country’s four largest chains of convenience stores accept digital currency. Furthermore, Taiwan does not impose any limitations on bitcoin trade or mining either.

So, let’s wait and see what the future holds for this lovely nation.