The Indonesian government has unveiled the country’s crypto bourse and clearing house to increase monitoring of the cryptocurrency sector and also improve investor protection in the country.
The launch of the new crypto asset exchange comes after an initial announcement in 2021.
National Crypto Exchange Finally Launches
Indonesia’s crypto bourse, which began operations earlier in the week according to the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti), comes amid the government’s transition in regulatory oversight.
In November 2022, Indonesia’s finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati revealed that the government was planning to transfer authority to regulate and supervise crypto investment to the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Bappebti and the Trade Ministry were in charge of overseeing crypto activities in the Southeast Asian country.
Speaking about the new exchange, Bappebti’s chief Didid Noordiantmoko, in a statement, said that the bourse will be operated by PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara, while PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia will handle the clearing of transactions, with PT Tenet Depository appointed as the crypto asset storage manager.
There were initial plans to launch a national crypto asset bourse in 2021, but there were delays that prevented the venture from taking off. Later in September 2022, Indonesia’s Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga stated that there were plans to launch the bourse at the end of the year.
With the crypto asset bourse now operational, the government said that it would enable regulators to have access to transaction records and ensure robust investor protection. Meanwhile, the country’s new crypto asset bourse will list current licensed crypto firms, including Tokocrypto, acquired by Binance in December 2022, and Indodax.
Indonesia Records Nearly 18 Million Crypto Investors in June
Indonesia, which banned crypto payments in 2021, has seen a rise in cryptocurrency investments which is allowed in the country. According to Reuters, 17.5 million Indonesians have invested in crypto as of June, a figure far higher than investors in the stock exchange market.
However, economic factors such as rising global interest rates have recently diminished cryptocurrency enthusiasm among investors. Crypto transactions between January and June fell to 67.8% compared to the same period in 2022. Meanwhile, the most traded assets among Indonesians include Bitcoin, Ether, Binance Coin, XRP, and stablecoin Tether.
