Taiwan’s sweeping crypto law raises the bar with licensing, reserve mandates, and tough penalties
Taiwan has passed a sweeping new law to regulate its crypto sector, sending the bill to the President for final approval.
Summary
Taiwan has passed a sweeping new law to regulate its crypto sector, requiring all virtual asset service providers to obtain licenses and comply with stricter operational, governance, and custody standards.
The legislation also imposes tough penalties for violations and introduces tighter rules for stablecoins, signaling a shift from basic AML oversight to full-scale regulatory supervision.
Taiwan has taken a major step forward in overseeing its digital asset sector by enacting comprehensive new regulations for cryptocurrency operations.
On Tuesday, lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan approved the Virtual Asset Service Act during its third reading, forwarding it to President Lai Ching-te for formal signing, which is anticipated within the next ten days.
Once signed, the Executive Yuan will set the official start date for the rules.
The legislation requires all virtual asset service providers, including cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, to secure explicit licensing from the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) before they can legally operate in the country.
Italso brings in tougher standards around cybersecurity protections, keeping customer funds separate from company assets, and strengthening internal governance and risk management.
Platforms that are already registered for anti-money laundering compliance will receive a 12-month grace period to submit license applications and up to 21 months in total to obtain full FSC approval and any other required permits. Until now, crypto businesses operating in Taiwan only needed to register for anti-money laundering compliance.
Those involved in the stablecoin business face tougher hurdles. First, they must win approval from both the central bank and the FSC, while maintaining 100% asset reserves at all times. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose values are pegged to an external reference such as the U.S. dollar or other national fiat currencies. The BIS recently warned of foreign-exchange risk posed by dollar-pegged stablecoins.
The law also introduces serious consequences for breaking the rules. Unauthorized operation of crypto platforms or stablecoin services could result in prison sentences of up to seven years and penalties of up to NT$100 million (about $3.14 million).
Meanwhile, market fraud or price manipulation offenses carry even stiffer sanctions: three to ten years behind bars and fines ranging from NT$10 million to NT$200 million.
1 Bitcoin’s 20% June crash looks even deadlier on the charts. Here’s why 7 minutes ago
2 Live markets: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had their worst month ever in June, shedding $4.5 billion 45 minutes ago
3 Anthropic restores AI models Fable, Mythos after the U.S. lifts export controls 56 minutes ago
4 XRP holds above $1 after leverage flush as network activity improves 2 hours ago
5 U.S. senators seek to block foreign adversaries from AI technology in new bill 8 hours ago
6 Trump pocketed more than $1 billion from crypto ties as industry headed toward slump 9 hours ago
7 Phantom doubles down on perpetual futures with hire of Hyperliquid market builders 10 hours ago
8 Companies spending the most on AI are growing jobs, Ramp study finds 11 hours ago
9 Why OpenUSD's 'real threat' that tanked Circle stock still faces a steep uphill battle for adoption 13 hours ago
10 SEC giving novel ETFs a rethink as it opens comment period on overhauling U.S. rules 13 hours ago
Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Why it matters :
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Automated crypto news ingestion from CoinDesk.