Experts and industry representatives yesterday agreed that real name registration is one of the basic pillars of a sound regulatory system for cryptocurrencies to combat money-laundering involving the emerging asset class.
The government must take heed and monitor ongoing developments in cryptocurrencies, which have expanded into about 1,500 variants with total global market capitalization of US$600 billion, and devise a regulatory system, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) said at a public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
National Chengchi University law professor Chang Kuan-chun (張冠群) urged the government to draft an act that defines crytocurrencies and the types of allowable transaction methods, and add operators of cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers to the nation’s anti-money laundering regime.
The Financial Supervisory Commission has classified cryptocurrency as a high-risk commodity and has imposed stringent requirements for lenders acting as collecting banks for cryptocurrency platforms.
It has earlier warned of a lack of transparency in cryptocurrency trading due to a gap between cryptocurrency trading accounts and bank accounts.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Karen Yu (余宛如) said that while Taiwan still classifies crytocurrencies as a high-risk commodity, the government must also look beyond anti-money laundering enforcement to ensure sustainable development of the emerging industry.
As more governments across the globe soften their stance on banning cryptocurrencies, Taiwan must not be left behind in the dialogue, KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) said.
Hsu has been working to form a self-regulatory organization for currencies with cryptocurrency exchanges, law firms, investors and financial institutions to facilitate communication between regulators and the industry.
Maicoin founder and CEO Alex Liu (劉世偉) said that as his company accepts deposits to purchase cryptocurrencies on behalf of customers, it has been working with KGI Bank (凱基銀行) to manage customers’ money under the lender’s trust accounts.
Maicoin customers are required to register the addresses of their digital wallets in the event the company needs to cooperate with investigators in criminal probes, Liu said.
The Executive Yuan’s Anti-Money Laundering Office said that it would continue to work with the central bank and the Ministry of Economic Affairs to define the scope for anti-money laundering enforcement related to cryptocurrencies.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last