Taiwan's encryption regulation upgrade! The judgment of the BitAsset Chinese capital case is out, VASP delisting draws follow.

Taiwan's Crypto Assets trading platform BitAsset has been fined NT$300,000 by the court due to its Chinese background and regulatory violations. Two responsible persons involved have been sentenced to 3 months and 5 months of imprisonment respectively, both of which can be converted to fines and received a 2-year probation. The company was removed from the list of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) by the Financial Supervisory Commission in May this year and has completely ceased its trading operations.

####BitAsset Chinese Case Judgment Released

The Taipei District Court recently announced a ruling confirming that BitAsset is actually controlled by Chinese capital. The first responsible person, a man with the surname Hu, admitted that after establishing the company in cooperation with China's Xinpai Blockchain, he transferred 5 million yuan of capital back to his personal account. The succeeding man with the surname Gu claimed that he has been serving as a nominal responsible person since December 2018, while the actual business is controlled by Wang Xin, the president of China Xinpai Media Group, and a man with the surname Gao.

####Behind-the-scenes manipulation chain exposed

The investigation by the prosecution shows that multiple responsible persons of BitAsset are nominal roles, and they received compensation for assisting Chinese capital in operating cryptocurrency business in Taiwan. Another representative with the surname Guo, who took over later, also admitted to acquiring company shares through a man with the surname Gao, continuing the actual control of Chinese capital over the platform.

####Regulatory Action: VASP Delisting and Business Termination

As Taiwan strengthens its regulation of virtual asset service providers, the Financial Supervisory Commission has removed BitAsset from the VASP anti-money laundering list in May of this year, and announced a complete halt to encryption currency trading services on the 10th of the same month. As of August 8, only 8 operators are left in the entire Taiwan that can legally conduct virtual asset business.

####Crypto Assets Special Regulations and Licensing System Are Coming

The Financial Supervisory Commission is expected to announce the first batch of operators that have obtained the official VASP license by the end of September and advance the legislative process of the first "Virtual Asset Service Act." The bill has been submitted to the Executive Yuan for review, and after approval, it will be sent to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation. In the future, operators with Chinese backgrounds and non-compliant operators will face stricter market entry barriers.

####Conclusion

The BitAsset case highlights the risks in Taiwan's Crypto Assets market and reflects the tightening attitude of Taiwan's regulatory authorities towards the virtual asset market. With the implementation of specific encryption laws and licensing systems, the market will enter a compliance era with higher thresholds. Investors need to pay attention to the platform background and regulatory status to mitigate potential risks.