The central bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday warned against bitcoin use in Taiwan, saying the virtual currency does not enjoy legal protections.
The regulators also said they may take necessary steps if financial institutions engage in bitcoin business, according to a joint statement issued yesterday.
The warning came after several monetary and financial regulators around the world have made similar moves in recent weeks to discourage bitcoin transactions, as the digital money gains in popularity and value.
“Bitcoin holders are on their own, as the currency is not issued by any monetary authority and is therefore not entitled to legal claims or guarantee of conversion,” the regulators said in the statement.
Bitcoin is not a real currency or a commonly accepted payment tool given its volatile values and its inability to be used for book-keeping or debit purposes, they said.
The official currency, the New Taiwan dollar, is guaranteed all legal protections, according to the statement.
Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said last month he and his colleagues have kept a close watch on the development of bitcoin and compared its transactions to deals in precious metals.
The central bank and the commission have not issued warnings against investment in gold or other precious metals.
The two regulators painted bitcoin trading as highly speculative, and said holders should watch out for drastic volatility, malicious default, hacker attack, Internet theft and other risks.
Transactions in the virtual currency could also be connected to money laundering, smuggling, drug trafficking and other illegal activities, they said. However, SinoPac Financial Holding Co (永豐金控) earlier lent support to investment in bitcoins, saying it is to increase in value and popularity, in keeping with the fast-growing prevalence of e-commerce.
Transaction risks are minimal and bearable like all other investment instruments, SinoPac Financial chief economist Jack Huang (黃蔭基) said on Dec 4.
Meanwhile, a Taiwanese online shopping service operator plans to start accepting the virtual currency on its shopping site tomorrow and welcomes Beijing’s ban on Chinese financial institutions handling bitcoin transactions, because it could create new business opportunities.
Chinese people who possess bitcoins are expected to be more willing to use the digital money for online shopping because it’s harder for them to take advantage of appreciations in the currency’s value since the People’s Bank of China imposed the ban on Dec. 7, according to sources at Wayi International Digital Entertainment Co (華義國際).
However, given the volatility of bitcoin’s value, the company will limit its holdings of the new type of payment instrument to control risks.
Additional reporting by CNA
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) said it has come up with a new pathway to shorten its gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), potentially achieving a breakthrough in making advanced semiconductors without cutting-edge equipment. Right now there is about a five-year gap between what TSMC is capable of and what Huawei, together with its manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), can produce. Huawei is to start making 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031 with its own “LogicFolding” technology, Huawei semiconductor chief He Tingbo (何庭波) said in a rare public appearance during a chip conference yesterday, while TSMC has
RSS