New milestones in Taiwan's virtual asset supervision.
In the rapid evolution of cryptocurrency assets and changes in international regulatory trends, Taiwan's virtual asset industry stands at a critical turning point for institutionalization. The '2025 Virtual Asset Great Future - Derivative Product Regulatory Policy Forum', hosted by the Bitcoin and Virtual Asset Development Association, has successfully concluded today, gathering representatives from the Financial Supervisory Commission, legislators, representatives from the three major industry associations, and inviting industry players such as MaiCoin, BitoPro, Liminal Custody, and HOYABIT, along with scholars from the Citic Financial Management Institute, to jointly discuss key issues like derivative products, Bitcoin ETFs, stablecoins, and asset accounting recognition, paving the way for the next steps in Taiwan's virtual asset industry.
Vice Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Chen Yanliang, in his opening remarks, pointed out that virtual assets have gradually become part of the financial system. The Financial Supervisory Commission has a four-phase plan involving anti-money laundering, self-regulatory associations, registration systems, and future specialized laws. Vice Chairman Chen emphasized that future specialized laws should not become tools of excessive regulation but should maintain openness and flexibility to promote industry innovation and development. He also revealed that the Financial Supervisory Commission has assisted six financial holding banks in trialing virtual asset custody, and hopes to open up more diverse product forms in the future, including bank deposit tokens and stablecoins, urging Taiwan to seize international trends and future competitive opportunities.
Legislator Ge Rujun emphasized that Taiwan has global competitiveness in cryptography and cybersecurity technologies, and should play an active role in the wave of digital assets. He urged the authorities to quickly allow professional investors to participate in overseas Bitcoin ETFs, and should further promote the issuance of local digital asset ETFs to avoid Taiwan being excluded from the global market.
Legislator Huang Shanshan also stated that the current version of the Financial Supervisory Commission's specialized law draft has not clearly included the regulations for derivative products, and should address market demands and financial thinking, while supplementing supporting systems such as financial advertising, KOL qualifications, and accounting recognition to create a more comprehensive supervisory framework, emphasizing that blockchain and virtual assets are part of the future blueprint.
Meanwhile, Zhang Senxiong represented the Virtual Currency Business Association and pointed out that the system should 'first seek to have, then seek to be good', believing that the potential of the virtual asset market is enormous but requires more space from regulation. Lawyer Lin Hongyu (Vice Chairperson of the National Bar Association's Digital Economy and FinTech Committee) stated that lawyers and accountants are key to building a trust system, and the development of the industry cannot be separated from compliance and trust-building, which will be strengthened through the association's cultivation of legal professionals. Accountant Wang Shufen (Director of the Taiwan Provincial Association of Accountants) reminded that without unified accounting and auditing standards, the consistency of financial reports and investor trust would be affected, and the government should simultaneously plan related supports, while accountants will play an important role in building trust in the future.
The potential of Taiwan's virtual asset ETFs aligns with new opportunities from international experiences.
The panel 'Dual Currency ETF? The possibilities and supports for issuing virtual asset ETF products in Taiwan', hosted by Lin Hongyu, Honorary Chairman of the Bitcoin and Virtual Asset Development Association, pointed out that the total scale of global cryptocurrency ETFs has reached 168.8 billion USD, reflecting the market's demand for hedging against the depreciation of the US dollar and asset allocation. Dai Songzhi, Vice President of the AI Digital Finance Business Group at Far Eastern Bank, analyzed three opportunities for virtual asset custody from a banking perspective: partner trust, infrastructure, and customer service, and three challenges: unclear regulatory details, talent gaps, and internal market trust.
Liminal Custody Taiwan Sales Director Guo Ziyin shared that the key to the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs by the U.S. SEC lies in independent third-party compliant custodians, and hopes that Liminal Custody will bring international experience to Taiwan to jointly establish a custodial standard process that complies with Taiwanese regulations. Ming Chuan University School of Financial Technology Associate Professor and Director Lin Mengxiang suggested that virtual asset operators could cooperate with financial institutions through 'sandbox pilot' or 'cross-industry collaboration' mechanisms to embrace a new landscape for derivative products.
In the panel discussion 'Navigating Regulatory New Frontiers: Decoding Hong Kong's VASP Framework', Joe Pan (Editor and Producer of Blockwind News) led Long Shunheng (CEO and Co-founder of PQA Labs) to share the Hong Kong government's supervisory strategies and steps regarding Web3, and shared a unique path that starts from industry suggestions, emphasizing communication, piloting, and exploration, and called for virtual asset operators to have greater patience in communicating with the government.
At the forum, the industry also suggested drawing on international experience, such as the dual-track regulatory model in the U.S. (GENIUS Act), and piloting a fiat-currency-denominated Bitcoin ETF in Taiwan. Participants unanimously agreed that derivative products (such as issuing stablecoins) not only promote the development of digital sovereignty but also serve as a litmus test for whether Taiwan's virtual assets can compete with international finance. The forum ultimately reached a consensus: it is necessary to establish an inclusive and forward-looking legal framework for virtual asset derivatives, such as Bitcoin ETFs and New Taiwan Dollar stablecoins, so that Taiwan will not be absent in the next wave of the digital economy.
From Bitcoin ETFs to stablecoins, the virtual asset opportunities Taiwan cannot ignore.
MaiCoin Group CEO Liu Shih-Wei stated that if there is appropriate legal guidance, the value of Taiwan's virtual asset industry could become one of the top ten cryptocurrency markets globally in 5-10 years. However, Taiwan is currently only focused on spot trading, neglecting the much larger derivative product market. CEO Liu urged the government to gradually open up and implement virtual asset custody, issue New Taiwan Dollar stablecoins for product pricing, and continue to provide a variety of derivative products, including perpetual contracts and RWA tokenization, to enhance overall market depth.
BitoPro CEO Zheng Guangtai pointed out that currently about 70% of cryptocurrency investors in Taiwan use overseas platforms for derivative trading, resulting in a significant outflow of funds from the crypto space. CEO Zheng believes that if local legal platforms can gradually open up for trading derivatives, it will help enhance industry trust and risk management capabilities.
Hayek Tech Co-founder Wen Hongjun deeply explored the application and institutional challenges of stablecoins in Taiwan, pointing out that stablecoins have become an important part of national sovereign financial tools, and Taiwan should create its own digital New Taiwan Dollar or Taiwan Dollar stablecoin to avoid being eroded by U.S. Dollar-dominated stablecoins. In addition, he pointed out that stablecoins should focus on the functions of trading media and pricing units, and suggested a self-regulatory mechanism to initially include overseas stablecoins.
Professor Chen Jinjie from the Citic Financial Management Institute pointed out that financial innovation must consider the high costs of compliance and regulation, using the U.S. (GENIUS Act) as an example, emphasizing the importance of transparency in stablecoin reserves and 100% coverage, while also noting that Taiwan's regulatory environment faces challenges such as cross-domain coordination, ministry authorization restrictions, and oversight of overseas platforms.
Accounting recognition innovation promotes Taiwan's new economy in virtual assets.
In the panel discussion 'Guidelines for Accounting Recognition and Trading of Virtual Assets', HOYA BIT Accounting Manager Xia Weiyun emphasized that virtual assets are 'codes that actually exist' on the blockchain, not abstract intangible assets, and shared HOYA BIT's efforts in cybersecurity, banking trust, and third-party auditing. KPMG's Chen Furen and Guofu Haohua's Zheng Xiangyu respectively elaborated on the differences in accounting treatment of crypto assets by IASB and FASB, believing that Taiwan's adoption of the fair value measurement method used by the U.S. may be better, while emphasizing that client custodied assets should be disclosed off-balance sheet.
Consultant Lee Jiansi from Oguo Blockchain Advisory provided unique insights, considering Bitcoin as the 'only true' hard currency, predicting that reserve assets for the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency will shift from U.S. Treasury bonds to Bitcoin, changing the rules of the financial market, and viewing Bitcoin as 'perfect collateral'. Xu Xiaobo (Chief Consultant of Hengye Law Firm) continued to guide the discussion from the perspective of intangible asset valuation and business models, emphasizing the importance of the 'business model' behind blockchain technology and recognizing humanity's true needs for virtual assets.
This forum, through dialogue among regulatory authorities, industry, financial institutions, and professional organizations, has crystallized a clear consensus: virtual assets have moved from the margins to the mainstream. If Taiwan wants to secure a place in the global competitive arena, it must integrate regulations across ministries and simultaneously promote innovations in accounting and financial systems, allowing assets to be properly valued, products to be legally issued, and transactions to be effectively managed, thereby truly building a healthy new economy for virtual assets.
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