Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission: Bitcoin is an illegal payment tool and will enact regulatory laws

According to Taiwan media reports (focustaiwan Central News Agency), on Tuesday, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced that Bitcoin is an illegal payment tool. It is reported that this is related to the recent kidnapping of a wealthy Hong Kong businessman, who was kidnapped by gangsters in Taiwan for more than a month and was asked to pay a ransom in Bitcoin.

Today, KMT legislator Tsai Cheng-yuan asked during a consultation at the Legislative Yuan Finance Committee whether Bitcoin is an acceptable currency in Taiwan. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Tseng Ming-tsung immediately responded that this new digital currency would pose a great threat to the financial economy of Taiwan Island. He said Bitcoin is an illegal payment tool and that the Financial Supervisory Commission has cooperated with the Taiwan police and the central bank to crack down on any illegal activities.

Until now, there has been no legal regulation on this type of digital currency in Taiwan, but Zeng Mingzong revealed that the Financial Supervisory Commission is developing a regulatory bill and will jointly issue the regulation with the central bank. According to the commission, the new regulatory bill will be announced in the near future.

Bitcoin appeared in 2009. This electronic remittance method does not require the participation of a third party. It is a decentralized currency that is not controlled by any banking institution or country. In many countries, Bitcoin is ready to take off. Recently, the European Court of Justice also ruled that Bitcoin enjoys currency treatment and is exempt from value-added tax. However, there are also some regions that are not friendly to virtual currencies, such as Iceland, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Russia. The official statement of Taiwan also makes the region join the camp against Bitcoin.

－－－－

Original article: http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201511020025.aspx
Author: Chen Chun-hwa and Lee Mei-yu
Compiled by: Satuoxi
Editor: Satuoxi
Source (translation): Babbitt Information