As of April 1, E. Sun Bank no longer allows purchase of crypto on major exchanges with a credit or debit card. So it seems the bank is deciding what I can spend my money on. They say it is to protect people from fraud. Well there are a lot of websites out there that accept credit cards that are fraudulent. I don’t see the bank banning the use of cards on the internet. Ironically by banning the use of credit/debit cards, they force people to do P2P purchases, which usually require wire transfers and have no protection at all - not to mention it is the scammers that are usually on the P2P transactions. By banning the use of cards they are driving their customers to the scammers
Just change bank.
It isn’t just E.Sun. It is also Taishan.Probably more banks. Had the account for 17 years. Was a pain to get the credit card being a foreigner. Not worth the hassle. There are other ways I can get. Just have my brother in US purchase it then transfer it to my wallet. My main point wasn’t that I couldn’t get it, it was that the bank is deciding what I can spend my money on and how hypocritical they are and that they are not really protecting people from fraud.
Yes they are very good points.
I think there have been a few scandals involving crypto transfers in the news so it is virtue signalling stuff.
I wonder if they’ll move to also restrict transfers to local crypto exchanges similar to many US banks
Yes and all those involved wire transfers. So in essence you can say the banks themselves are to blame. You can’t send $30,000 US on a credit card. Just last month a friend of my wife’s got taken in a scam. Guy said he was a pilot for China Air. He convinced her to invest in crypto.Good thing her daughter found out a week after and told me . It was a scam site that looked like a legit one. I looked at it and saw they were giving 30 percent interest for 2 weeks of staking.Of course they start out with a low investment, 5000NT. Then when they show how much you made they have you put larger amounts in.She put in 5000NT via wire transfer. If we hadn’t caught it, she would have transferred 10,000US. She wouldn’t have been able to do that with a credit card. When we tried to withdraw the 5000, it said it was withdrawn and sent but I checked the Blockchain and it was never sent
Just did some checking. Turns out all banks ban purchase with credit cards. Turns out once again it was the government that issued a letter to the banks telling them to stop allowing purchase with cards. Once again, Taiwan government shoots itself in the foot. When China banned all crypto in 2001, Taiwan was poised to become the crypto hub of Asia. Money would have started flowing in. Now it is all going to the UAE ( the fact they don’t tax crypto helps a lot)
Transfer from Taiwan bank to max exchange is instant. TWD to usdt is not bad if you wait someone selling a lot.
Think I will try BitoPro. You can place the order for purchase in the app and then pay cash at Family Mart or 7-11.
For a while Taiwan was the main hub for tether.
The problem is Taiwan already had a bad reputation for money laundering
Bitopro are good, it’s easy to set up your approved account it’s much better and more economical than buying with credit cards anyway.
I checked BitoPro. The main advantage of that is you can pay at Familymart or HiLife. All the others you have to link your bank account.A little weary of linking my bank account yo a crypto site. However their restrictions bare ridiculous. You can only purchase a max of 470 NT a day through a convenience store.You can’t purchase much crypto for that amount. I complained to them about it and they said after 90 days it is increased to 5000 NT. I can’t see the reason for that. It is not to protect the person from scams because you can wire up to 1.5 million a day. I told them they can be losing a lot of new customers because of this because paying at convenience stores is what made their dite stand out. They agreed and passed it on to management to see if they can make it so individuals could apply for a higher rate.If you are a US citizen it is moot anyway ( unless you have a non-US citizen spouse apply in their name). US citizens can’t use the exchange
Bitopro and Bitoex service is very good, real time customer support in English on the phone.
Convenience store has a transaction charge. 15 or 30 I forget. Max of 5000 deposit each time.
It is 30. Not anymore. If you go on their app or webpage you will see the max is 500 per day ( 470 after transaction fee) They dont say it on the page but their support told me that you have to wait 91 days from when you get level 2 verification for it to go up to 5000. If you have been using it for a while then of course you are at the 5000 level, but for new users it is at 500.
Almost 10% service fee, what a deal
Dear Valued Customer:
BitoPro offers the option to deposit TWD via convenience store payments. For new users, the single transaction limit for convenience store is TWD 500, with a daily limit of TWD 500 as well.
Starting from 91 days after completing identity verification (inclusive), the convenience store depositing limit will be increased. The new limits will be a single transaction limit of TWD 5,000 and a daily limit of TWD 20,000. This method does not require linking a bank account. However, if you require higher depositing limits, we recommend undergoing bank linking verification. Thank you.
Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is set to submit draft laws by the end of the year to regulate cryptocurrency in the country. The aim is to prevent fraud and money laundering.
Have bitopro fees gone up?
It used to be that you would pay 0.1 percent for btc purchases. 0.2 percent now.
And must have changed in the last week.
Edit: my old brain suddenly remembered that there are different fees depending if you take what it is offered or put up a price you are willing to buy at.
Has this been established? How is staking income treated (on chain staking, no taiwanese crypto exchange and bank account included in any transaction) taxwise?
Gemini says:
- Tax Residency: As a permanent resident in Taiwan (likely meeting the 183-day rule), you are probably considered a Taiwan tax resident.
- Income Type: Crypto staking rewards are generally treated as income upon receipt, valued at their market price at that time.
- Taxation Rule (Key Point): Staking rewards from international sources are likely considered foreign-sourced income. For Taiwan tax residents, this income is only taxed under the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) system if two conditions are met:
- Your total annual foreign-sourced income exceeds NT$1 million.
- Your total AMT base income (including specific domestic income + foreign income over NT$1M) exceeds NT$6.7 million (approximate threshold, subject to change).
- Tax Rate: If both thresholds are met, the relevant income is taxed at a flat 20% under AMT. If these thresholds are not met, your foreign-sourced staking income is likely not taxed in Taiwan.
- Kraken/German Account: Using an international exchange like Kraken or withdrawing funds to a German bank account does not change your potential tax liability in Taiwan.
- Double Taxation: The Germany-Taiwan Double Taxation Agreement exists to prevent being taxed twice on the same income, should it become taxable in both countries.
In short: Your foreign staking income is likely tax-free in Taiwan unless your total foreign income and overall AMT income are very high (above NT$1M and NT$6.7M respectively).
Disclaimer: Crypto tax rules are complex. Consulting a local Taiwanese tax advisor is highly recommended for personalized advice.