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
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
RSS