A Critical Year for Virtual Asset Legislation: Industry Players Assemble a New Financial Landscape

With the rapid expansion of the virtual asset market, the global financial system is undergoing structural changes. Taiwan, moving past its previous phase of observation and experimentation, has officially entered a new stage of legal framework construction and industrial integration. The annual forum, hosted by the Bitcoin and Virtual Asset Development Association, took place on May 7, 2026, at the International Conference Hall of the NCCU Public & Business Center. The event brought together nearly 200 industry representatives, regulators, financial institutions, technology firms, and investment institutions to focus on Taiwan’s Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) Act, stablecoins, digital payments, institutional adoption, and global market trends, witnessing a pivotal moment as Taiwan’s blockchain industry moves to the next stage. Legislators Li Kun-cheng and Ge Ru-jun noted in their opening remarks that the VASP Act is a vital foundation for Taiwan’s digital finance development and a key bill receiving significant attention this year. The Executive Yuan has submitted a draft, and various party caucuses and legislators have proposed different versions, which will continue to be pushed through scheduling, negotiation, and review. Both legislators emphasized that legal construction is not merely a regulatory tool but a key to building market trust. Through clear rules, it will help reduce the negative associations of virtual assets with fraud, money laundering, and speculation, providing a path for compliant businesses and allowing the public and financial institutions to participate in new types of financial markets with greater peace of mind. In the panel discussion "The New Future of Taiwan’s Stablecoins and Digital Payments," representatives from Taiwan VASP industry players including Owlting, HOYA BIT, MaiCoin, and ZONE Wallet focused on the application potential of stablecoins in cross-border payments, corporate settlement, merchant collection, and digital wallets. Panelists pointed out that stablecoins can reduce exchange costs, shorten settlement times, and improve the limitations of traditional finance in cross-border value transfer. If TWD-denominated stablecoins can be combined with regulatory frameworks, bank cooperation, on-chain settlement, and local payment scenarios in the future, they have the potential to become an important interface for financial innovation in Taiwan, helping companies improve capital allocation efficiency and extending digital payments from the consumer side to broader commercial applications. The global trends panel invited representatives from international exchanges Binance and BingX to observe the next wave of virtual assets from the perspective of the Asia-Pacific and global markets. Panelists noted that the Asia-Pacific remains one of the most active virtual asset markets globally, with high investment participation in Taiwan. If the special law can be successfully implemented, it will help improve market clarity and the willingness of international exchanges to expand their presence. Global regulatory trends are also shifting from a focus on preventing malpractice to promoting compliance and industry governance. While regulatory frameworks still vary by jurisdiction, they are moving toward a more consistent and mature direction. Panelists also observed that the structure of the virtual asset market is changing. The market, which previously relied heavily on short-term retail trading, is gradually shifting toward long-term institutional allocation, ETFs, OTC, custody, and compliant financial products. As traditional financial institutions and corporate clients begin to explore virtual asset services, cooperation between exchanges, banks, custodians, and technology service providers will become a key driver of market growth. Although USD-backed stablecoins remain the mainstream, non-USD stablecoins have the potential to develop differentiated market positioning if they can be combined with local payments, asset tokenization, corporate settlement, and digital sovereignty. The highlight of the event was the official release of the "2026-2027 Taiwan Blockchain Industry Ecosystem Map." This map surveyed over 100 ecosystem players across Taiwan, covering diverse fields such as exchanges, payments, wallets, custody, financial services, technical solutions, enterprise applications, and infrastructure, showcasing the results of Taiwan’s blockchain industry moving from point-based innovation to the construction of a complete ecosystem. Chairperson Hsu Pei-ling stated that this map is not only an internal cooperation index but also an important business card for the international market, allowing overseas institutions, investors, and policy observers to clearly see the full energy of Taiwan’s Web3 and virtual asset industry. During the "Taiwan Blockchain Industry Trends – Looking to the Future" session, leaders of Taiwan’s five major blockchain and virtual asset associations gathered to discuss new milestones in industrial development. Chang Sen-hsiung, Secretary-General of the Virtual Asset Service Provider Association (VASP Association), emphasized that the association, as a self-regulatory organization, will act as a key bridge between industry and government during the review of the VASP Act. Kao Chi-chun, Chairman of the Taiwan Blockchain Alliance, advocated for breaking down industry silos and promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration and ecosystem development with a "sheepdog" spirit. Cheng Hsueh-feng, Secretary-General of the Taiwan FinTech Association, focused on the review of the special law and cross-border alliance cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region,