Taiwan Central Bank Weighs Foreign-Exchange Rules for U.S. Dollar Stablecoins

Taiwan formally brought virtual assets within its legal regulatory framework after the Legislative Yuan passed the Virtual Asset Service Act on its third reading. The legislation marks an important milestone for the country’s fintech development and signals an increasingly blurred line between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance. To guard against disruption to the domestic currency and foreign-exchange markets and preserve financial stability, regulators must quickly clarify how virtual currencies will be classified and which authorities will oversee them.

Central Bank Governor Yang Chin-long said in July 2026 that the bank planned to regulate U.S. dollar stablecoins along the lines of foreign-exchange controls. He also argued that stablecoins should eventually be issued by banks to manage risk. New Taiwan dollar stablecoins would be easier to regulate because they fall within the domestic currency regime. Although the central bank continues to pursue reserve tokenization, it currently sees no need to use a central bank digital currency for the final settlement of stablecoins.