Key Takeaways
Taiwan handed the Digital Asset Service Act on June 30, making the FSC the only real crypto regulator.Untrusted stablecoin issuers or unlicensed VASPs withstand 7 years in jail and $3.1M fines beneath the legislation.The FSC should draft roughly 9 items of secondary laws to completely launch the foundations by early 2027.
Strict Licensing and Operational Necessities
Taiwan’s Legislature on June 30 accredited the Digital Asset Service Act, establishing the island’s first devoted cryptocurrency legislation and designating the Monetary Supervisory Fee (FSC) as the only real regulator. In response to studies, the 56‑article statute replaces an anti‑cash‑laundering registration system with necessary licensing for all digital asset service suppliers.
Below the regime, exchanges, custodians and pockets operators should receive FSC approval and meet necessities for inner controls, cybersecurity and enterprise continuity. Suppliers should safe separate licenses throughout seven classes — trade, buying and selling platform, switch, custody, underwriting, lending and others — ending the follow of providing a number of companies beneath a single registration. The principles are anticipated to take impact by early 2027.
Eight incumbents who beforehand accomplished anti-money laundering (AML) registration can have 12 months to use for licenses and 21 months to acquire certification as soon as the legislation takes impact, with a attainable three‑month extension.
The act additionally creates Taiwan’s first stablecoin framework. Home issuance is proscribed to banks, and tokens have to be pegged solely to fiat currencies. As well as, issuers should preserve full one‑to‑one reserves segregated from firm funds and positioned in belief with home monetary establishments.
Overseas-issued stablecoins akin to USDT and USDC can be handled as regulated commodities and would require FSC approval for itemizing on licensed exchanges. Working a digital asset service supplier (VASPs) or issuing stablecoins with out authorization is punishable by as much as seven years in jail and fines of as much as $3.1 million (NT$100 million).
The FSC should draft roughly 9 items of secondary laws by early 2027. The Digital Asset Service Supplier Affiliation mentioned it might help companies via implementing guidelines protecting institution, personnel administration, inner controls, irregular‑transaction monitoring, outsourcing and monetary‑assertion preparation. It would additionally function committees for itemizing evaluate, self-discipline and fraud‑prevention compliance.
Lawmakers additionally adopted a nonbinding decision requesting the FSC to submit, inside one 12 months, a plan to permit licensed companies to supply cryptocurrency derivatives.
