With the rapid growth of the virtual asset market, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has strengthened its regulatory actions to prevent illegal advertising and money laundering activities. During a recent questioning session at the Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee, People First Party legislator Huang Shanshan raised concerns about the well-known virtual asset platform Bitget’s alleged failure to declare a compliance statement and its advertising activities in public spaces. The FSC demonstrated a strict attitude by transferring the case to the judicial investigation.
FSC investigates Bitget’s advertising behavior
On October 30th, FSC Chairman Thomas Huang responded to questions from People First Party legislator Huang Shanshan during the Finance Committee meeting, regarding the virtual asset platform Bitget’s advertising on city buses without declaring an anti-money laundering compliance statement. Huang Shanshan stated that the operator completely disregarded existing regulations and openly promoted its platform services in Taiwan. In response, the FSC’s Securities and Futures Bureau Director Chang Chin-shan confirmed receiving a complaint against Bitget and verified the illegal advertising, leading to the case being transferred for judicial investigation.
People First Party legislator Huang Shanshan stated, “These operators who run around on the streets, and they have been warned, I urge the Securities and Futures Bureau to investigate seriously and impose penalties if necessary. Even though they haven’t registered, and you haven’t approved them, they are still operating without any repercussions. Who are you to control them? Anyway, I will continue doing what I do, and you can’t stop me. We don’t want these operators to act with impunity.”
Taiwan’s slow regulatory progress and insufficient manpower for reviews pose challenges for overseas operators
Although Taiwan has regulations on anti-money laundering compliance statements and is transitioning to a registration system, new applicants for trading operators do not have a transparent information submission status like in Hong Kong. Many overseas operators can only submit their documents and wait quietly, while existing international operators are unable to enter the market. In fact, many overseas exchanges have varying degrees of physical advertising exposure in Taiwan. After the emergence of new advertising behavior regulations, there have been cases of active reporting of competing operators. Operators also expressed the desire for more detailed regulations on advertising formats and scopes to understand how to comply.
( legislator Ke Ju-chun questioned the FSC: Taiwan’s VASP registration system will be implemented ahead of schedule on December 1 this year)
Strengthening regulation of the virtual asset market, a new special law draft is on the way
In response to the increasing popularity of virtual assets, the FSC is actively developing a special law on the management of virtual assets. Chairman Thomas Huang stated that the FSC will balance market regulation and protection of investor rights, and plans to submit the draft special law to the Executive Yuan before June 2025. The FSC plans to conduct public hearings and regulatory notice procedures to gather extensive feedback, aiming to effectively implement the new law and establish clear regulations for the management of virtual assets.
(Coming soon: FSC announces four-stage management plan for the virtual asset management special law, to be submitted to the Executive Yuan in June 2025)
Strict anti-money laundering regulations, operators will face penalties if not registered
Currently, virtual asset operators are required by law to register and declare anti-money laundering compliance statements. Huang Shanshan pointed out that although only 26 operators have reported as required, the majority of the public still choose to trade with unapproved operators. Chang Chin-shan stated that operators who fail to register as required will face penalties, and the FSC will not allow unapproved operators to engage in illegal trading activities in Taiwan.
(Tighten up! Taiwan’s Presidential Office announces anti-money laundering law amendment: Illegal provision of virtual asset services may result in up to two years in prison)
FSC continues to regulate and respond to violations
Huang Shanshan questioned the FSC’s enforcement efforts against unregistered operators’ advertising behavior, pointing out that some unreported operators openly conduct large-scale advertising in public spaces. Chang Chin-shan further responded, stating that Bitget did not report to the FSC as required, making it an illegal virtual asset operator who is not allowed to engage in advertising activities in Taiwan according to regulations. The FSC has initiated an investigation and transferred the Bitget case for judicial investigation, hoping to send a clear signal to the market and strengthen regulatory effectiveness.