Indonesia has announced plans to launch a national crypto exchange for its citizens. The Asian country wants to do this before transiting controls over crypto assets from a commodities agency to the Financial Services Authority.
According to reports, all crypto assets trading is regulated under the guidance of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, known as Bappebti. The acting head of The Financial Services Authority, Didid Noordiatmoko, explained that Bappebti, an agency under the FSA, will be given the responsibility to manage crypto trading for the next two years as the exchange is set up.
In December 2022, the nation carried out a series of financial reforms which included the Financial Sector Development and Reinforcement bill (P2SK) ratified by the House of Representatives of Indonesia. Indonesians have shown a strong affinity for cryptocurrencies with its citizens running cryptocurrency transactions valued at 212 trillion Indonesian rupiahs (around $13.5 billion) from January to June 2022.
Crypto assets have become investment
Speaking about the development, Suminto Sastrosuwito, a head of Financing and Risk Management of the national finance ministry, noted that cryptocurrencies are an investment and financial tool in Indonesia, thus the need for regulations to be applied in the industry.
The nation back in 2017 placed a ban on the usage of crypto as payment but allowed crypto trading. Despite the ban on crypto payment, by 2020, the number of crypto traders in the country went up by 300%. A major part of its over 200 million inhabitants are unbanked and thus using digital assets is easier.
In a move to support the adoption of digital assets, Bappebti, on August 1, 2022, released an updated list of 383 cryptocurrencies that Indonesians could trade. The president, Joko Widodo, has also shown support for crypto citing the importance of tapping into a global economy that can also be taxed for the benefit of the nation.
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