Taiwan’s financial regular is moving to curb crypto activities in the country as it recently asked banks and credit card companies to stop using credit cards for cryptocurrency payments immediately.
Speaking to Forekast on Friday, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission stated that it had issued a letter to the banking industry association this month, directing credit card agencies not to approve any transactions related to cryptocurrencies.
This new directive from Taiwan’s financial watchdog is coming after the country enacted anti-money laundering rules for cryptocurrency service providers in July 2021. But since the crypto market in the country is still largely unregulated, there hasn’t been much success in implementing the law.
Defending its position to stop crypto transactions with credit cards, Taiwan’s financial watchdog stated that credit cards are designed as payment tools for consumption rather than a payment method for financial investment and speculative trading. The financial regulator has given credit card providers and banks three months to implement these new directives.
Taiwan is one of the few countries clamping down heavily on crypto activities, primarily because of the lack of regulations in the industry. Analysts believe the move will bring about regulations within the crypto space.
Speaking about regulations, there is already a bill in the U.S senate regarding crypto regulations. While the hearing for the bill has been suspended until next year, analysts following the bill expect the crypto industry to be fully regulated within a couple of years.
A similar bill is also being discussed in the EU regarding cryptocurrency regulations. Once that bill is passed, experts predict a full-scale adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Taiwan crypto investors are feeling the repercussions
With the latest move from Taiwan’s Financial watchdog, crypto traders will no longer be able to process crypto transactions using credit cards. They will have to consider alternative payment options like peer-to-peer transactions, which is increasingly becoming popular among crypto exchanges.
Although the situation may not be favorable right now, crypto enthusiasts in Taiwan believe the move will bring about negotiations and full-scale crypto regulation, which is suitable for the industry.
Meanwhile, Taiwan has been working on releasing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). It completed a trial for the prototype last month, so it is a matter of time before it is launched.
