Taiwan is in a race against its neighbors to get its head around cryptocurrencies.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/04/20
By: Matthew Fulco, Taiwan Business TOPICS Magazine
AP / 達志影像
Virtual currency fever swept the globe over the past year, peaking when Bitcoin’s value hit US$19,500 in December. Since that zenith, the preeminent cryptocurrency’s value has plummeted to just US$10,000, illustrating its extreme volatility.
Bitcoin is the best known cryptocurrency, but over a thousand have been established, observes Carl Wegner, who heads the Asia business of New York-based blockchain firm R3.
“Virtual currency usually offers users anonymity, which has caused challenges for it with financial regulators,” he says. “Regulators worry that anonymous transactions may facilitate money laundering.”
Financial regulators in Taiwan have signaled their ambivalence toward cryptocurrency. Wellington Koo (顧立雄), chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), said in October that Taiwan would not adopt a heavy-handed approach to virtual currency as China and South Korea have done. Beijing and Seoul have both cracked down on cryptocurrency exchanges and banned initial coin offerings (ICOs) – a means of fundraising for virtual-currency ventures. [FULL STORY]
