Taiwan's financial regulator has proposed minimum paid-up capital of NT$300 million for nonbank stablecoin issuers, alongside a wider licensing and supervision package for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) outlined the proposals in two announcements on November 3, 2026.
The package is intended to implement the Virtual Asset Service Act, which was promulgated on July 22, 2026. The FSC said the Executive Yuan would separately set the Act's commencement date. The proposed rules do not themselves grant firms permission to begin issuing stablecoins or operating new services.
Who could issue stablecoins
Under the stablecoin proposal, eligible applicants would include banks, companies limited by shares in which a bank or financial holding company has invested, and other institutions designated by the FSC. This is a defined application framework, rather than an unrestricted opening for any company.
Nonbank issuers would need the NT$300 million paid-up capital, meet public-issuance requirements and confine their business to issuing and redeeming stablecoins. The permitted tokens would be linked one-to-one to the New Taiwan dollar or a single foreign currency.
A separate reserve requirement would apply to each stablecoin. Reserve assets, measured at fair value, would have to cover at least the full amount of that coin in circulation. The issuer's minimum capital and the backing for its outstanding coins are therefore separate obligations.
Issuers would have to verify the identities of subscribers and people seeking redemption before accepting their transactions. They would also commission periodic checks by accountants and establish internal controls, audit arrangements, business-continuity procedures and information-security management.
The draft requires issuers to be able to act promptly when competent authorities lawfully require restrictions on stablecoin transfers or disposal. Financial and business information would be reported to both the FSC and Taiwan's central bank, with rules also governing public disclosures.
Related anti-money-laundering amendments would designate stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under the Money Laundering Control Act. That would bring them within the financial-institution AML framework. Dedicated anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing units would also be allowed to handle anti-fraud work.
Capital and custody rules for crypto businesses
The accompanying eight VASP drafts address establishment and licensing, personnel, operations, internal controls and outsourcing. They also cover suspicious or abnormal accounts and transactions, financial reporting and the industry association.
Minimum paid-up capital would depend on the service. Conversion, transfer and underwriting businesses would each require NT$50 million; trading-platform and custody businesses, NT$100 million; and borrowing-and-lending businesses, NT$200 million. A firm undertaking multiple activities would add the applicable amounts rather than choose the highest alone.
The corresponding operating security deposits would be NT$10 million, NT$30 million and NT$50 million. Those amounts would also be added for multiple activities, and the FSC could raise them according to a provider's capital, business scale and risk.
Custodians would face a further deposit equal to 2.5% of eligible custody balances at the end of June and December. Assets entrusted to financial institutions and other approved exclusions would first be deducted. This is an obligation on custodians, not a proposed transaction tax on customers.
The initial opening for banks would cover those already carrying out virtual-asset custody. They could undertake conversion, transfer, custody and underwriting, but their conversion and transfer customers would be limited to legal entities. The proposal therefore stops short of a general retail opening for those bank services.
Borrowing-and-lending applicants would need at least one year of trading-platform operations, or at least two years in both conversion and custody. The draft would also restrict how borrowed virtual assets could be used, including permitted quantities and eligible assets.
Business personnel would need at least 24 hours of professional coursework, pass an examination and obtain a certificate. Providers would publish accountant-reviewed half-year financial reports within two months of the period ending, and audited annual reports within three months of year-end, using International Financial Reporting Standards.
Consultation before commencement
The November 3 announcements set out plans for formal draft notices and public comments. The VASP release specifies a 40-day response period starting the day after publication in the official gazette. The release does not give a calendar closing date. Comments would go through the draft-notices section of the FSC's legal database.
The FSC said the implementing rules would take effect alongside the parent Act. It also described transition provisions for existing AML-registered providers and financial institutions, covering licence applications and their operational requirements. The announcements do not establish a fixed launch date for the new regime.
Dalimss News has separately covered Singapore's proposed dispute-resolution access for stablecoin holders and Hong Kong's crypto tax-reporting legislation. Taiwan's November 3 package concerns its own issuer and service-provider requirements, which remain proposals subject to the rule-making process.
