With appropriate risk-control measures, cash transactions of cryptocurrencies under daily limits could be allowed in convenience stores in Taiwan, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said on Thursday.
Some operators of virtual-assets platforms have proposed that the daily transaction limit could be set at NT$100,000 or NT$20,000 per transaction, considering that cash transactions rarely exceed NT$10,000 at a time, Koo said at a press conference in Taipei.
MONITORING KEY
While the commission would consider allowing cash transactions for cryptocurrencies, it is still concerned whether platform operators would be able to effectively monitor the transactions, Koo said, adding that cash transactions could create a loophole for money launderers.
In July, the commission asked banks in Taiwan to have their cryptotrading partners adopt a real-name registration system, which would require both buyers and sellers to open real-name accounts at banks.
Hopefully the real-name policy will have a “stunning” effect with regards to curbing money laundering, Koo said, adding that most platform operators do not object to this policy.
The commission has also asked the Bankers Association of the Republic of China (銀行公會) to set up self-management regulations and risk-control measures as soon as possible, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Sherri Chuang (莊秀媛) said.
The commission hopes the regulations will be instituted as soon as next month, Chuang said.
Cryptoplatforms must work closely with their cooperating banks to minimize risks. For example, if a transaction amount reaches NT$120,000, platforms must refund the extra NT$20,000 once the daily transaction limit is set at NT$100,000, Chuang said.
The limit issue has not been finalized, she said.
There are 1981 kinds of cryptocurrencies in the world, with total market value reaching US$219.65 billion, with bitcoin accounting for 52.7 percent of the market, according to CoinMarketCap Web site.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San