Taiwan stablecoin race heats up: 6 banks may be first to issue

Taiwan’s stablecoin push is advancing as the Virtual Asset Service Act moves forward, with hopes that banks will be the first regulated issuers of stablecoins. Although the draft has not passed the Legislative Yuan’s final reading, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is already drafting subsidiary rules, reportedly aiming to restrict issuance to domestic financial institutions. Citing local media, the article says six banks are the most likely early candidates: China Trust Bank, Cathay Bank, Taishin Bank, KGI Bank, United Bank, and Fubon Bank. Each is described as having prior virtual-asset or blockchain-related capabilities, such as virtual asset custody pilot approvals, work on RWA tokenization initiatives, and partnerships with local crypto firms. The piece also notes that Taiwan’s earlier “TWD stablecoin” attempt (GreenEve’s TWDT-ETH) was withdrawn due to weak demand and limited use cases, making market appetite for a renewed Taiwan stablecoin a key question. Under the current draft, stablecoin issuers must hold corresponding fiat reserves and cannot pay interest or incentives. The article frames the motivation for banks as positioning for blockchain finance and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization opportunities. FSC officials also suggest some import/export traders have begun settling using stablecoins, which could create incremental demand and encourage integration between fiat and stablecoins via banks. For traders, Taiwan stablecoin issuance remains mostly a regulatory-and-industry rollout story right now, but it could increase attention to BTC/ETH custody rails and onshore compliance narratives around stablecoin infrastructure.