Taipei-based cryptocurrency trading exchange Maicoin Ltd (現代財富科技) yesterday said it is in talks with Facebook Inc about participating in the latter’s plan to create a digital currency called Libra.
Maicoin wants to become a member of the Geneva, Switzerland-based Libra Association and operate a “node” on the blockchain-based network, which would validate and record transactions on the shared ledger, chief executive officer Alex Liu (劉世偉) told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
The association, which debuted in June with 29 members, is tasked with overseeing the blockchain-based currency and maintain a real-world asset reserves to keep its value stable, Liu said.
It aims to eventually incorporate 100 members, with new members to be unveiled by the end of this year, he said.
Binance (幣安), the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by traded value, has reportedly considered becoming a node on the Libra network, but Taiwanese exchanges are more likely to take the lead in Chinese-speaking regions, Liu said.
Binance, founded in China in 2017, last year relocated its headquarters to Malta due to disapproval from Chinese regulators, while Facebook is still blocked in China, so Taiwanese firms have a better chance of being trusted by the US social media, he said.
While each member has to invest at least US$10 million into the operation of the Libra project, money would not be a key factor for the association when choosing members, Liu said.
“When we reached Facebook and discussed getting involved in the project, Facebook told us that it is looking for partners around the world that not only have high technical skills to protect the node, but also are confident of building a local user base of more than 20 million people,” Liu added.
Given that Taiwan has 12 million Facebook users, who embrace new services launched by the California-based company, Liu is confident that Taiwanese firms will meet the requirements, adding that Taiwan would be an ideal market for Libra.
Maicoin would not need approval from local regulators to become a member of the association, but if the exchange plans to allow investors to trade Libra with New Taiwan dollars, it would need regulatory approval, he said.
Libra is expected to be used in many operations, from payments and money transfer to cryptocurrencies trade, as association members include Mastercard Inc, Visa Inc and PayPal Holdings Inc, as well as other companies such as Lyft Inc and Uber Technologies Inc, Liu said.
It is too early for the Financial Supervisory Commission to give an opinion on Libra, but it would intervene if the digital currency is found to be similar to securities tokens, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS