Can retail investors buy overseas cryptocurrency ETFs? Financial Supervisory Commission: Will evaluate whether to allow cross-brokerage transactions after receiving reports

Taiwan has opened “discretionary委託” investment for professional investors to invest in overseas virtual asset spot ETFs for over a year. When will retail investors get their turn? The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has provided an answer.

One-year observation of discretionary委託 business, professional investors lead the way in testing the waters

Taiwan’s financial market acceptance of virtual assets is reaching a new milestone. As early as September 2024, the FSC issued relevant directives, officially approving domestic securities firms to facilitate “discretionary委託” channels for entrusted buying and selling of virtual asset spot ETFs listed on overseas exchanges. The initial implementation of this policy was quite strict, limited to participation by professional investors as defined by regulations.

Image source: FSC The FSC issued relevant directives as early as September 2024, officially approving domestic securities firms to use the “discretionary委託” channel

This decision was based on the high volatility inherent in virtual assets and their complex product structures. Regulatory authorities aimed to first open up access to high-net-worth groups, observe market operation mechanisms within a controlled financial environment, and assess the feasibility of subsequent full opening. As securities firms gradually completed backend system upgrades and stress tests, this business officially launched in early 2025 and has been operating for over a year now.

Under the current system, eligible professional investors include institutional professional investors, high-net-worth investment legal entities, high-asset clients, legal entities or funds classified as professional investors, and natural persons meeting financial and professional background criteria. The FSC initially excluded retail investors from the first wave of opening, mainly due to the significantly higher investment risks of virtual assets compared to traditional securities. For investors lacking relevant hedging knowledge or with lower risk tolerance, direct entry into this market could face substantial asset losses.

Therefore, the government has adopted a gradual opening approach. Currently, the virtual asset market is in a critical period of regulation and innovation intertwining. This “point-to-surface” strategy helps the FSC more precisely capture potential trading risks and, while ensuring financial stability, gradually expand asset allocation diversity.

Further reading
Taiwanese can now buy Bitcoin ETFs! Fubon: Professional investors can use discretionary委託, what are the conditions?
Discretionary委託 buying “Bitcoin spot ETF” is banned! How else can you buy in Taiwan? Two major reminders summarized

Market data analysis: stable growth in scale but still a low overall proportion

According to the latest statistics provided by the FSC Securities and Futures Bureau, as of the end of March 2026, 14 domestic securities firms have officially launched discretionary委託 services for virtual asset ETFs. The specific participants include UBS Securities, Union Securities, China Trust Securities, Pocket Securities, Mega Securities, Taishin Securities (including the merged Yuanta Securities), KGI Securities, E.SUN Securities, Cathay Securities, Capital Securities, KGI Securities, Fubon Securities, and Fubon Financial Securities.

In terms of operational performance, from early 2025 to the end of March 2026, the total trading volume of foreign virtual asset ETFs bought and sold by professional investors via discretionary委託 has reached NT$8B, demonstrating strong interest among high-net-worth groups in crypto asset allocation.

Despite the impressive accumulated trading volume, the market shows a more cautious atmosphere when observing “inventory balance.” As of the end of March this year, investors’ holdings amounted to about NT$8B, accounting for only 0.06% of the total discretionary委託 business volume. This data indicates that professional investors currently mainly engage in short-term arbitrage or tactical asset adjustments with overseas virtual assets ETFs, rather than long-term strategic holdings.

Deputy Director of the Securities and Futures Bureau, Huang Zhonghao, pointed out that although trading volume fluctuates with market enthusiasm, the current business scale remains marginal compared to the overall discretionary委託 market. This gradual progress reflects the cautious nature of traditional financial systems when introducing decentralized assets and provides valuable data for future decisions on whether to open retail participation.

Regulatory core issues, investor protection, and international trends

The FSC maintains a cautious but open attitude toward further relaxing restrictions for non-professional investors (retail investors). Regulators have asked securities associations to conduct a comprehensive survey of business implementation over the past year, compiling an in-depth report. The core evaluation indicators of this report include three main parts:

• First, whether any major consumer disputes or complaints occurred during the participation of professional investors;
• Second, whether securities firms, in their frontline KYC (Know Your Customer) and product suitability assessments, ensured investors fully understood the extreme volatility characteristics of virtual assets;
• Third, to gather information on regulatory developments of such products in major international markets.

In the international arena, the U.S. market, as a global leader, has successfully launched multiple virtual asset spot ETFs, sparking a worldwide digital asset boom. Additionally, Hong Kong, a financial hub in Asia, has shown proactive momentum, not only promoting related ETF listings but also allowing retail investors to participate under specific frameworks. Conversely, most Asian and European countries still regard virtual assets as highly speculative assets, tending to restrict participant scope.

Huang Zhonghao stated that the FSC is closely monitoring the latest regulatory measures for virtual asset ETF trading in the U.S. and other countries. If most nations make regulatory breakthroughs and market operations remain stable, Taiwan will consider their experiences and reassess the feasibility and supporting measures for retail investors to buy overseas virtual asset ETFs.

Brokerage association report as an important market indicator

Market expectations for opening to retail investors continue to rise. The securities association is expected to submit a formal evaluation report soon, which will directly influence the FSC’s decision. As digital assets like Bitcoin ($BTC) gradually become part of mainstream institutional asset allocations, domestic securities associations are actively collecting market feedback, hoping to expand service scope while safeguarding investor protection.

For ordinary investors, investing in overseas ETFs through legitimate discretionary委託 channels offers higher security and legal protections compared to directly opening accounts on unregulated overseas crypto exchanges.

However, even if future policies move toward opening, the FSC is expected to set strict safeguards. These may include enhanced risk warning disclosures, investment thresholds, or restrictions on the types of ETFs available (such as only spot ETFs and excluding leveraged products).

Currently, the regulator is in the final data compilation stage. After receiving the complete report from the securities association, a final cross-departmental assessment will be conducted. Whether Taiwan can keep pace with the global trend of crypto financialization and allow ordinary people to easily allocate digital assets may be revealed in the near future.