Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) plans to implement strict new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations on cryptocurrency service providers starting November 30.
The new rules and laws require cryptocurrency exchanges and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to register and comply with anti-money laundering requirements.
Initially, the deadline for mandatory registration was January 2025, but the committee decided to bring forward the date by a month.
The commission stressed that foreign entities offering cryptocurrency services in Taiwan are required to establish a local presence and complete the registration process under the Companies Law.
Currently, 26 cryptocurrency providers have been approved to operate within the country, and they must all comply with the updated rules.
To facilitate this, the FSC has provided a checklist that includes monitoring customer names, bank accounts, IP locations, and account usage behaviors.
They were also asked to watch for suspicious activity such as frequently changing accounts, splitting funds, and using multiple accounts from the same IP address.
Failure to comply could result in fines of up to NT$5 million ($153,700) and imprisonment of up to two years.
The measures come after two local exchanges, MaiCoin and BitoPro, were fined NT$1.5 million each for failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, including poor customer due diligence and not keeping adequate transaction records.
In an effort to strengthen its position in the cryptocurrency sector, Taiwan continues to develop its cryptocurrency regulation.
Last September, it introduced guidelines to enhance transparency, and plans to require cryptocurrency exchanges to register by September 2025.
The authority is also working on measures to support growth, such as allowing professional investors to access foreign digital asset-linked investment funds and launching a pilot program for institutional crypto custody.