Taipei-based cryptocurrency trading exchange Maicoin Ltd (現代財富科技) yesterday said it is in talks with Facebook Inc about participating in the latter’s plan to create a digital currency called Libra.
Maicoin wants to become a member of the Geneva, Switzerland-based Libra Association and operate a “node” on the blockchain-based network, which would validate and record transactions on the shared ledger, chief executive officer Alex Liu (劉世偉) told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
The association, which debuted in June with 29 members, is tasked with overseeing the blockchain-based currency and maintain a real-world asset reserves to keep its value stable, Liu said.
It aims to eventually incorporate 100 members, with new members to be unveiled by the end of this year, he said.
Binance (幣安), the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by traded value, has reportedly considered becoming a node on the Libra network, but Taiwanese exchanges are more likely to take the lead in Chinese-speaking regions, Liu said.
Binance, founded in China in 2017, last year relocated its headquarters to Malta due to disapproval from Chinese regulators, while Facebook is still blocked in China, so Taiwanese firms have a better chance of being trusted by the US social media, he said.
While each member has to invest at least US$10 million into the operation of the Libra project, money would not be a key factor for the association when choosing members, Liu said.
“When we reached Facebook and discussed getting involved in the project, Facebook told us that it is looking for partners around the world that not only have high technical skills to protect the node, but also are confident of building a local user base of more than 20 million people,” Liu added.
Given that Taiwan has 12 million Facebook users, who embrace new services launched by the California-based company, Liu is confident that Taiwanese firms will meet the requirements, adding that Taiwan would be an ideal market for Libra.
Maicoin would not need approval from local regulators to become a member of the association, but if the exchange plans to allow investors to trade Libra with New Taiwan dollars, it would need regulatory approval, he said.
Libra is expected to be used in many operations, from payments and money transfer to cryptocurrencies trade, as association members include Mastercard Inc, Visa Inc and PayPal Holdings Inc, as well as other companies such as Lyft Inc and Uber Technologies Inc, Liu said.
It is too early for the Financial Supervisory Commission to give an opinion on Libra, but it would intervene if the digital currency is found to be similar to securities tokens, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) said.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
RSS