A Taiwanese lawmaker has reiterated that the cabinet will have to mandate an acting central authority to shape regulatory frameworks and development roadmap for the cryptocurrency industry by May 16, a move that would push Taiwan closer to adequate crypto regulation.
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Fast facts
- Tseng Ming-Chung, a former chair of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), told the conference on Thursday that lawmakers met last month and submitted a request to the Executive Yuan – the cabinet – to take more action to oversee the crypto space.
- Tseng said the cabinet will likely mandate either the FSC or the newly-established Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) as the central agency governing the sector.
- In July 2021, the SFC introduced anti-money laundering rules for cryptocurrency service providers, but the industry remained largely unregulated. The SFC has also asked banks and credit card companies not to allow credit cards as a means of payment for virtual assets services.
- Last week, Taiwan’s anti-corruption watchdog said that it is pondering regulations that would require government officials and employees to report their crypto asset holdings under local property declaration laws.
- MODA, which launched in August, has set information security and Web 3.0 technology as its key focus areas to protect against Chinese cyberattacks amid escalating tensions between China and Taiwan.
- Tseng told Forkast at the conference that he would prefer MODA to be appointed as the central crypto authority, as MODA encourages digital innovation and “would focus more on development” while the SFC would likely be more inclined towards traditional financial supervision.
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