TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s draft virtual assets law is on track to enter the legislature in June and will include regulations for stablecoins, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Thursday.
FSC Chair Peng Chin-lung (彭金隆) said it is expected stablecoin will be managed by the FSC and the central bank when the law comes into effect, per CNA. Speaking at the FSC’s end-of-year press conference, he said stablecoin will connect legal tender with the virtual world.
Stablecoins are a cryptocurrency that aims for a stable price, often by pegging to a stable fiat currency or other commodity. The top 10 stablecoins on the market are pegged to the US dollar.
FSC Securities and Futures Director Chang Chen-shan (張振山) said the FSC plans to strengthen virtual asset regulation in stages. He said money laundering and terrorism financing will be targeted first, after which the FSC will help industries self-regulate.
Chang said the FSC then plans to separate virtual asset regulation from the Anti-Money Laundering Act and adopt a registration system for trading them. He said the FSC is on track to submit the law to the legislature in June after it goes through the public submission process in February.
Peng noted that institutional investors were allowed to invest in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in September last year. He said the FSC’s Securities and Futures Bureau will review the decision after the six-month point and decide if trading will open to general investors.
Chen said seven companies are working on submissions to enter the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund markets. He said 11 others are preparing to place submissions.
Peng also noted that the FSC created a real-world asset tokenization working group with six financial institutions last year. He said the FSC is researching the trial’s results and a mid-term report has found the market feasibility is significant.