Taiwan to name FSC as crypto regulator, more inside

• Taiwan will name the Financial Supervisory Committee (FSC) as the chief regulator for the country’s crypto industry.
• The decision comes just days after crypto firms, including Binance and Matrixport, called for regulatory clarity.

Taiwan is taking a major step towards regulatory clarity for its crypto industry by appointing a regulator to oversee the space. The island nation’s Financial Supervisory Commission will reportedly be named as the chief regulator of crypto exchanges and virtual assets. 

Official announcement by the end of March

According to a 20 March report by Bloomberg, Taiwan will enact special legislation to put the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in charge of its crypto industry. People familiar with the matter revealed that the official announcement may come by the end of this month. The financial watchdog and the country’s cabinet have reportedly been working with other departments and industry representatives to develop a plan for the same. 

News of the appointment of a crypto regulator comes after a chaotic year in the crypto industry that has served as a wake-up call for lawmakers around the world. The decision marks a major shift in the regulatory approach of Taiwan, which has been hands off until now. The country’s Central News Agency also confirmed that the announcement of the FSC as the official regulator of crypto may come by the end of March. 

Huang Tien-mu, the Chairman of the FSC, stated earlier today that the commission will make announcements under the cabinet’s instructions. The commission will probably work with crypto firms on self-regulation measures. Regulation of payments and trading related virtual assets will remain the initial points of focus for the FSC. 

The decision comes just days after a joint paper from Binance Holdings, Matrixport Technologies and Woo Network, which called for regulatory clarity in Taiwan.

The paper read:

“From our observations, some markets that tried to regulate virtual assets under existing financial rules and categorizations experienced great difficulty as the rules lacked clarity and made it very confusing for business operators, authorities and customers.”