Taiwan First’s Conference Marks A Year Of Growth

Since Bitcoin’s early days, Taiwan played an important role in the currency’s growth.  The country has been home to the world’s largest producers of mining hardware. Regardless, there has been very little adoption, or even an exchange, in the country until recently.

In December of 2013, Wayi International Digital Entertainment Co., an online shop for digital gaming goods, became the first Taiwanese company to accept bitcoin. The country’s first bitcoin group started only a few months later. 6 months later, BTCEX-TW became the first Taiwanese digital currency exchange.

Today the country has three exchanges and over 5,000 convenience stores selling bitcoin. Speaking to BNC News, Alex Liu, CEO of Maicoin, said his exchange has already grown to 200 bitcoins in daily trading volume. Similar growth can be seen in the local bitcoin Meetup group which has grown to roughly 200 members.

To commemorate this period of growth, the Taiwan Bitcoin Association created the nation’s first bitcoin conference last month. The one-day event  was held on December 7 at the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance. Over 250 attendees heard speeches about the basics of crypto-currency and its potential.

In his speech, Liu explored the possibilities of the Blockchain of Things (BoT) and bitcoin used for payment between machines.The majority of speeches however, were dedicated to addressing the popular concerns surrounding security and legality. All of the talks were designed for a crowd who were new to the technology behind bitcoin, and the idea of a digital currency.

Besides the speeches, attendees were able to check out several booths featuring Taiwanese bitcoin startups. One of the booths belonged to Cool Wallet, a new company making a hardware wallet for storing and spending bitcoin. Another exhibitor was BitoEX, the exchange responsible for the 5,000 convenience stores selling bitcoin.

“We consider this event a success. We had a better turnout and attendance than expected, and we got media’s attention,” said Maicoin’s Head of Marketing Nick Chang.

“There were two goals. The first was to engage with the existing Bitcoin community as a way to strengthen the bond between Bitcoin vendors and end users. The second goal is to reach out to the non-Bitcoin community. When the Bitcoin vendors come together and show their faces to the crowd, the transparency adds a peace of mind and provides the public a direct scope into this new industry.”
— – Chang

Taiwan is a relative late comer, compared to bitcoin adoption in other Asian countries. Despite the questionable legal status, China one of the largest digital currency markets and accounts for 70 percent of daily trading volume. In the Philippines, it has found mass appeal in startup and development circles, as well as providing a way for the average Filipino cheaper remittances. Singapore has become known as the digital currency hub in Southeast Asia for its large amount of bitcoin atms, exchanges and business activity

Despite a late start, many believe there is great promise for bitcoin in Taiwan’s future.  “[Taiwanese Bitcoin Exchanges are] barely six months [the old], today we already have three different exchanges and a lot of other companies participating in different types of BTC applications. So if you want to evaluate yearly growth, I suggest looking at 2015 and 2016. I am sure [that] number that is going to be exciting,” said BTCEX-TW CEO, Winston Hsiao.

By empowering the country’s export businesses, Liu sees bitcoin as a way for Taiwanese brands to go global. Others see it as a tool to lessen the friction of international payments and remittances in the country. But almost every Taiwanese bitcoin enthusiast sees the currency as a way for the country to become the hub of a new financial industry.

“Bitcoin is gaining popularity in the developed countries in Europe and North America. By embracing Bitcoin, Taiwan can be on the forefront with these developed countries and establish itself as the future financial hub in the Asian Pacific. Taiwan has an absolute geographical advantage over Singapore, and we think Bitcoin can further help Taiwan stay innovative,” said Chang.