Virtual Assets

On November 13, 2025, CIEL Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang was invited to attend the “International Forum on Virtual Asset Crimes Investigation and Cross-Border Cooperation,” hosted by the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Executive Yuan. The forum brought together expert representatives from domestic and international government agencies to engage in in-depth discussions on topics including tracking illicit virtual asset flows, combating online fraud, and strengthening cross-border cooperation.

Deputy Director Yang served as a panelist in the session titled “Stablecoins and Chinese Web: Money Laundering and Clearing Services between Digital Asset and FIAT.” The session featured keynote presentations by Mathieu H. L. and Simon Roch from FIU France. From legal and regulatory perspectives, Deputy Director Yang highlighted the following key points:

• Traditional financial crime investigations have focused on monitoring money flows; however, in the era of digital finance, the boundary between money flows and data flows is increasingly blurred, calling for a rethinking of crime prevention strategies.
• In virtual asset–related crimes, the key points for investigation may be shifting from unregulated OTCs to unregulated decentralized finance (DeFi).
• Within DeFi ecosystems, SNS platforms, such as Telegram or Wechat, play a critical role in facilitating communication and coordination. Future criminal investigations should therefore extend beyond regulating financial intermediaries (e.g., VASPs) to also consider the role of digital platform service providers.

CIEL will continue to engage in international exchanges and work alongside government authorities and law enforcement agencies to advance the development of financial regulation and crime prevention frameworks for virtual assets.

On November 3, 2025, CIEL was honored to welcome Professor Florence G’Sell from Stanford Law School for an academic exchange. She engaged in an in-depth dialogue with CIEL Deputy Director Professor Yueh-Ping Yang and Professor Chao-Hung Chen on the current developments of virtual assets, artificial intelligence, and other aspects of digital laws, examined through comparative perspectives from Europe, the United States, and Asia.

🔹 Trends in Virtual Asset Regulation Across Asia
Asian jurisdictions exhibit divergent regulatory approaches to virtual assets. Japan was among the first to establish rules for stablecoins; Singapore adopts a principles-based regulatory model; Hong Kong adopts a comprehensive and rigorous framework; and South Korea continues to show a high level of regulatory attention toward virtual assets. In Taiwan, the government is actively promoting the Virtual Asset Service Act, which covers virtual asset service providers, stablecoins, and other related issues, and it is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.

🔹 Differences in Regulatory Cultures Across Europe, the U.S., and Asia
Europe adopts a rule-based approach with comprehensive regulatory frameworks for virtual assets and artificial intelligence. However, its implementation progresses relatively slowly due to differences among its member states.The United States tends to be market-driven, with a relatively light-touch or deregulatory stance. Asia, by contrast, could be viewed as taking a middle-ground approach between Europe and the U.S., featuring pragmatic and hybrid regulatory strategies that balance flexibility and efficiency—making the region particularly significant for comparative legal studies in this area.

🔹 The Future Integration of Blockchain and AI
The integration of blockchain and AI can be seen as an next-generation model of existing blockchain-smart contract integrations, which has the potential to enhance the capabilities of both technologies. However, it may also introduce greater uncertainty, less explainability, and increased legal liability challenges.

CIEL will continue to closely follow developments in technological innovation and legal governance, foster international academic exchanges and collaboration, and contribute to forward-looking research and policy discussions.