Taiwan’s crypto industry prepares to form association ahead of new regulation

Taiwan’s cryptocurrency sector is laying the foundations for an industry association with its financial regulator expected to officially release guidelines later this week.

In a joint statement, nine crypto firms said today that they plan to apply to establish an industry association in mid-October and have set up a working group to speed up the process.

Taiwan has required virtual asset services providers (VASPs) to comply with anti-money laundering laws since the Financial Supervisory Commission introduced anti-money laundering rules in July 2021. Otherwise, the industry remains largely unregulated in Taiwan.

The FSC, however, is expected to release a set of guidelines on trading and payments related to cryptocurrencies for VASPs by the end of this month. By setting up an industry association, crypto firms hope they can come up with self-supervisory rules based on the guidelines.

Wayne Huang, co-founder and Group CEO of Taipei-based crypto exchange XREX, told The Block the FSC’s upcoming guidelines could “give birth to a new industry, providing this new industry legitimacy, oversight, a solid path to grow, and an accelerated means to acquire public trust.”

The working group currently consists of nine firms, including major exchanges in Taiwan such as MaiCoin, BitoGroup and ACE. Winston Hsiao, XREX’s cofounder and Group CRO, serves as the working group convener, according to the statement.

A draft plan of the working group shows that the industry association — once set up — plans to cover more types of crypto firms, including over-the-counter trading platforms, wealth investment platforms, custody services providers and quantitative trading companies.

Upcoming guidelines

As part of its upcoming guidelines, the FSC plans to restrict offshore crypto exchanges from operating onshore without proper compliance registration, a government official confirmed with The Block earlier this month.

The Block reported last month that Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is applying to get registered in Taiwan for AML compliance.

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