TAIWAN'S CHIP GODFATHER'S BLESSINGS

TAIWAN CHIP  ''godfather'' bullish on cryptocurrency despite volatility.

THE  revered head of Taiwan's semiconductor giant said cryptocurrencies would be a key driver for growth despite a bitcoin slump due to the threat of stricter regulations.

Morris Chang's Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing Co [TSMC] produces chips that power  Apple's iPhones and, more recently that new businesses like Artificial Intelligence and Digital Currency Mining.

TSMC  -which is the world's biggest microchip producer by contracts  -announced its fourth quarter results Thursday, saying revenues grew 5.9 percent to TW$ 277.6  billion  [$9.4 billion], citing new phone launches and crptocurrency mining as key factors.

Some analysts estimate TSMC sales from producing chips used in digital currency mining could double the year to  five to 10 percent  of its total revenue, according to  Bloomberg.

Chang  warned  ''the price of cryptocurrency is very volatile'' and said the reason TSMC would not invest in new manufacturing  capacity specifically for  cryptocurrencies, but that the sector would covered by the firm's wider high-performance computing platform.

He named  high-performance  computing including cryptocurrencies mining as one of drivers for  future revenue growth , alongside  Artificial Intelligence,  the   ''Internet of Things''   and automotives/

Chang's remarks came a day after  bitcoin, the dominant virtual currency, crashed below $10,000  for the  first time in six weeks following concerns of tightening regulations.

CHINA is preparing for a new crackdown on cryptocurrency, according to the nations state media, while South Korea's Justice Minister Park-Sang-Ki indicated Seoul was preparing a bill to shut down virtual currency exchanges.

BUT TSMC  forecast the sector would remain resilient as long as miners will make positive returns.

''The demand -has been very strong and we expect it to continue to be strong,'' Chang told analysts and investors at a briefing in Taipei.

TSMC  is optimistic for overall growth  in 2018, expecting revenues to increase by 10 to 15 percent    -more than the 9.1 percent increase in 2017 in US dollar terms.