Taiwan Drafts NT$300M Entry Ticket for Nonbank Stablecoin Issuers

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission dropped a draft rulebook on Nov. 3 that puts a number on who gets to issue stablecoins without a banking licence: NT$300 million in paid-in capital, at minimum. That's the price of admission for nonbank applicants. Banks, financial holding companies and bank-backed ventures get a smoother path, and the FSC reserved the right to wave through other institutions it deems eligible.

The nonbank crowd faces extra homework. They'd have to list their shares publicly and stick to one job — issuing and redeeming stablecoins, nothing else. Tokens would have to be pegged one-for-one to the New Taiwan dollar or a single foreign currency.

Reserves are the other hammer. For every token in circulation, issuers would need assets of at least equal fair value, checked on a regular basis by accountants. Before anyone buys or cashes out, the issuer has to verify who they are — identity checks baked into the subscription and redemption flow.

Separate draft amendments would pull stablecoin issuers under the anti-money laundering rules that already govern financial institutions. The licensing proposal also lines up the usual scaffolding: internal controls, business continuity plans, cybersecurity procedures and ongoing financial and operational filings with both the FSC and Taiwan's central bank.

The legal runway comes from Taiwan's Virtual Asset Service Act, promulgated July 22, which requires regulatory permission to issue a stablecoin — plus the central bank's blessing before any approval goes through. The act's effective date hasn't been set yet. The FSC now plans to publish a formal notice of the draft, kicking off a 40-day public comment period the day after it lands.