Report contents
APAC · Established
Taiwan
Crypto Livability Index 2025·data to 31 Dec 2025
Scoreboard
Five pillars, then the 22 sub-pillars scored 0 to 4. Empty sub-scores are held out of the total, not zeroed.
The number behind the rank
| Raw capability score | 54 / 84 |
| P2P liquidity bonus (tie-breaker) | +1 |
| Inflation 2.4% · unbanked 6% · remittances 0.1% GDP · capital controls 0.3 · sanctions 0 | CNI 0.082 |
| Need multiplier | ×0.623 |
| Livability score | 0.401 |
Raw 54/84 = 0.643 capability. Crypto-Necessity Index 0.08, from five components: inflation 2.4% (three-year average 2023 to 2025), unbanked 6% of adults, remittances 0.1% of GDP, capital-control intensity 0.30 (Heritage 2026 derived; KAOPEN excludes this country), sanctions exposure 0. Need multiplier ×0.62. Livability score 0.401, rank #46 of 79.
Three findings
A small livability move on a deliberately moderate profile
Taiwan shifts only five places, from #41 to #46, one of the steadiest positions in the region. The Crypto-Necessity Index is 0.08: inflation 2.4%, remittances 0.1% of GDP, with the country a net sender hosting roughly 700,000 migrant workers. Capability is solid and need is low, so the two tables nearly agree.
A 40% headline tax that almost no retail user pays
Domestic-source crypto income is taxed progressively up to 40%, but most retail investors trade on overseas exchanges, where Taiwan's overseas-income treatment grants an annual exemption of roughly 210,000 dollars and a flat 20% rate above it. The worst-case rate applies only to high-earning domestic-exchange users, which is why the tax sub-pillar settles at 2 rather than 1.
Strong rails to buy, a wall at the utility counter
Mandatory VASP registration since January 2025 produced a deep licensed exchange landscape and a top gift-card catalogue, but utility-bill payment is 0: Taipower, the water utility and the telcos run entirely through fiat-only local mobile wallets like JKO Pay and Taiwan Pay, none of which accept crypto funding.
In one line
"Taiwan's headline crypto tax reads as punishing, but the overseas-income exemption means most ordinary users barely feel it. The rules look stricter on paper than they are at the keyboard."
Watch in 2026
Trajectory 3/4, trending liberalising. The Financial Supervisory Commission published draft Virtual Asset Services Act regulations in 2025, the first dedicated VASP legislation, extending mandatory AML registration to all exchanges and opening a stablecoin-framework consultation. Enactment of the VASP Act, expected in 2026 or 2027, is the item that could shift the regime, potentially toward tighter travel-rule thresholds.