Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced on November 3, 2026 that it has drafted a rule package for licensed stablecoin issuance. The proposals center on a paid-in capital floor of NT$300 million for nonbank issuers — roughly US$9.4 million at an exchange rate of NT$32 — alongside requirements for one-to-one currency pegs, reserves fully backed at fair value, and anti-money-laundering (AML) obligations. A 40-day public comment window will open once the drafts are formally posted.

Taken together, the measures shift the question from who can mint a token to who can stand behind a peg with balance-sheet weight, audits, and the capacity to freeze transactions.

What the FSC Draft Requires

In a November 3 press release, the FSC said it has prepared three regulatory instruments. The first is a draft Stablecoin Issuance Permit and Management Regulations. The other two amend the Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering of Financial Institutions and the bank AML/CFT internal-control rules. The drafts will be gazetted and posted on the FSC's website for public comment under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Eligible applicants fall into three categories: banks; companies invested in by a financial holding company or a bank; and any additional entities the FSC may announce later. Nonbank issuers face the steepest entry requirements. They must hold at least NT$300 million in paid-in capital, complete a public offering, and operate a dedicated business limited to stablecoin issuance and redemption. That third, still-unnamed category is worth tracking: it determines whether licensing stays confined to banks and their affiliates or extends to a broader set of issuers once the FSC makes its designations.

The draft also restricts what may be issued. Tokens must track the New Taiwan dollar or a single foreign currency on a one-to-one basis, and issuers must verify the identity of subscribers and redeemers before processing those transactions.

On the reserve side, assets at fair value must at least match the tokens in circulation. Issuers must commission regular CPA audits and maintain internal controls, business-continuity procedures, and information-security systems. They must also be able to restrict transfers or dispositions promptly when competent authorities issue a lawful order.

Reporting duties extend to both the FSC and the Central Bank, with issuers required to file financial and business data and to meet prescribed public-disclosure content and frequency requirements.

On AML, the FSC plans to designate stablecoin issuers as financial institutions under Article 5, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 18 of the Money Laundering Control Act. The full financial-institution AML rulebook would then apply, placing stablecoins within Taiwan's broader crypto regulatory framework rather than on a separate track.

Why the Capital Floor Matters

The draft raises a recurring question: when a private token claims to be worth one unit of currency, what makes that promise credible enough to support a license?

Capital itself is not the peg — reserves are. But the NT$300 million paid-in floor, together with the public-offering duty and the narrow issuance-only charter, raises the cost of entry for nonbank issuers and screens out thinly capitalized applicants before the reserve test even begins. The fair-value reserve requirement then ties the circulating float to assets marked at market rather than book value, while CPA audits and Central Bank reporting provide an ongoing check on whether that match still holds.

The freeze-and-restrict provisions carry a separate signal: a licensed Taiwanese issuer is expected to act quickly when authorities order a block. That structure resembles a regulated payments instrument more than an open bearer token that no one can pause.

Not Final Law Yet

None of the measures are in force. The Virtual Asset Service Act was promulgated on July 22, 2026, but its effective date remains with the Executive Yuan. The FSC says the stablecoin package will take effect in step with that Act once comments are collected, with the comment window running 40 days from the day after formal announcement. Until then, the capital floor, peg limits, and AML designation remain draft policy rather than live licensing. The milestones to follow from here are procedural but decisive: formal posting of the drafts starts the 40-day comment clock, and the Executive Yuan's effective-date decision on the Virtual Asset Service Act is what moves the entire framework from draft to enforceable.

What the drafts do settle, for now, is the shape of the bar. Nonbank issuers will need NT$300 million in capital, a single-currency peg, full fair-value coverage, and the compliance apparatus of a financial institution. The peg promise remains the same question it has always been — and Taiwan's answer begins with who is permitted to make it.