Taiwan adopting a friendly approach to cryptocurrencies; unlike China and South Korea

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin tend to have a polarizing effect; people either love them or hate them. Taiwan is the newest country joining the bandwagon of countries that have shown a positive attitude towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a whole.

Today Wellington Koo, the Chairman of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission during a joint session of the parliament and the cabinet said that Taiwan will be more circumspect in its attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Instead of banning cryptocurrencies, like China and South Korea has done, he promised that Taiwan will have a friendlier attitude and will support cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

This statement from Koo was prompted by a request from Taiwan’s Nationalist party congressman Jason Hsu. Hsu has earlier stated, “Just because China and South Korea are banning, doesn’t mean that Taiwan should follow suit – there is a huge opportunity for growth in the future. We should emulate Japan, where they treat cryptocurrency as a highly regulated, highly monitored industry like securities.”

Taiwan’s KMT Nationalist party has supported de regulation and Fintech right from the start. Although many would see Hsu’s comment as at best a lukewarm response to crypto currencies and initial Coin offerings (ICOs), but it is still a better attitude than those adapted by countries like China, South Korea etc.

The parliamentary joint session that Koo was attending is set to pass a bill that would set up an environment that will harbour and support the developments of cryptocurrency and blockchain start ups. Before Koo made the country’s stand on ICOs and cryptocurrencies clear today, there was rising fear that Taiwan might follow in the footsteps of China and South Korea and other countries that have hit cryptocurrencies with blanket bans and outlawed them outright.