A lawyer's point of view

Nathan Kaiser, Partner & Attorney-at-law (Switzerland), Eiger

 台北市民權東路二段41號2樓, 沙龍廳

Bitcoin, the peer-to-peer payment system and digital cryptocurrency introduced in 2009, has been the subject of controversy but is also growing in popularity as a digital alternative to national currencies. While critics highlight the deficiencies in the system that creates and distributes bitcoins as well as some high-profile cases of bitcoins being stolen or used by criminal organisations, thousands of companies and non-profit organisations have begun to accept bitcoins as payment for goods and services. Some critics argue that Bitcoin suffers from the same deficiencies as other fiat currencies in that there is nothing backing the currency and that the commercial use of Bitcoin, illicit or otherwise, is currently very small compared to its use by speculators, which has fuelled enormous price volatility in recent months. On the other hand, supporters argue that the currency is preferable to credit cards and other online systems for a number of reasons, not least because transaction fees are lower than the 2-3% typically imposed by credit card processors.

At this special lunch speaker Nathan Kaiser will give an update about the current status of Bitcoin in Taiwan from a legal perspective. Among other topics, he will talk about: