Taiwan is one step closer to becoming Asia's fin-tech hub
For many decades, Taiwan’s financial sector is highly-regulated as it is cautious of the inflow of capital related to money laundering. However, the government has recently relaxed its rules in a bid to spur financial innovation and turn Taiwan into a fin-tech hub.
With its neighboring countries looking to tighten their rules on crypto, Taiwan has a good chance of achieving its goal of becoming a fin-tech hub in Asia as it recently approved the application of 24 virtual asset providers.
For many decades, Taiwan’s financial sector is highly-regulated as it is cautious of the inflow of capital related to money laundering. However, the government has recently relaxed its rules in a bid to spur financial innovation and turn Taiwan into a fin-tech hub.
To compare, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it is considering restricting retail investors’ use of leverage and credit facilities to trade cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, Japan has high tax rates for crypto with a progressive tax rate that varies from 5% to 45%, depending on the number of total profits.
Last week, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of the Banking Bureau of Taiwan released a list of 24 registered virtual asset providers (VASPs). WooTech Taiwan Ltd. was included in this list.
“This is an important milestone for us as many foreign-owned firms are seeking to serve the Chinese-speaking market who are looking to diversify their portfolios. Taiwan’s potential on its own is huge given its high per capita income and fin-tech-savviness,” said Jack Tan, founder and CEO of WOO Network.
“This decision gives us ample confidence that Taiwan regulators are trying to strike a balance between supporting innovation and protecting users,” Tan noted.
To date, the total historical trading volume on WOO X is over 240 billion USD. WOO Network has more than 20 partners including Avalanche, Binance, Crypto.com, Cardano, and NEAR.
Taiwan approval details
“In general, the approval that we obtained means that we are fully compliant with implementing the AML measures, as stipulated by Taiwan law. It allows us to engage in: crypto to fiat exchange; crypto to crypto exchange; transfer of cryptocurrencies; safekeeping or administration of cryptocurrencies; and offering and issuance of cryptocurrencies,” said Chloe Tsai, Head of Legal and AML at WOO Network.
According to the FSC document, businesses that have completed the declaration of compliance with the Money Laundering Prevention Act are responsible for the implementation of the Money Laundering Prevention Act on their behalf. Those who obtained the approval are to take measures to prevent money laundering and combat terrorism on their virtual currency platforms and trading business.
“One of the requirements for us is to create an independent Taiwan app to house all Taiwanese users. On our Taiwan app, users cannot access futures/margin, while all FE and BE are separated from our global app,” explained Tsai.
“We are also taking big steps to allow our platform to engage in crypto to fiat exchange starting with one of the big local banks in Taiwan, and hopefully soon with other banks,” said Tsai.
WOO X is a trading platform for professional traders, featuring fully customizable modules, and lower to zero-fee trading complete with deep liquidity sourced from the WOO Network, which connects traders, exchanges, institutions, and DeFi platforms.
〔Original :Meet Global〕
https://meet-global.bnext.com.tw/articles/view/47790