Indonesia has officially launched its own national cryptocurrency exchange, which will become the only authorized channel for trading crypto assets in the country.
Indonesia's Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti) has announced the official opening of a national cryptocurrency exchange platform from which the country seeks to ensure regulated trading of crypto assets to ensure the safety of users and investors.
Didid Noordiatmoko, director of Bappebti, said that the new national cryptocurrency exchange is also part of the government’s efforts to create a regulated environment that allows for the safe trading of crypto assets and is friendly to the development of this technological and financial innovation. According to the director of Bappebti, the country is adopting a new regulatory approach to modernize the legal framework for digital assets and improve its current system, in order to better adapt to the cryptocurrency ecosystem and offer more protection to users.
Noordiatmoko also stated that cryptocurrencies are a high-growth sector in the country, which can contribute significantly to the national economy, generating additional revenue for the nation.
Indonesia consolidates its development plans for the crypto industry
The Indonesian government had announced its plans to create a national cryptocurrency exchange earlier in 2021. At that time, the agency in charge had announced that the platform would only support local operations. However, according to the publication Recently launched by Bappebti, the country’s new crypto exchange platform will operate as a centralized entity that will allow licensed platforms to offer their services to Indonesian customers.
This cryptocurrency exchange was launched on July 20, with the aim of facilitating access to cryptocurrencies and fostering financial innovation in the country.
Delegation of powers
As Bit2Me News reported in January, the Indonesian government was in the process of transferring and delegating regulatory powers over cryptocurrencies from Bappebti to the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (FSA). The latter will be in charge of oversee the crypto industry for the next two years.
This process of delegation of powers between the two agencies caused a delay in the launch of the national cryptocurrency exchange, which was scheduled to debut last year. However, adapting the regulatory and supervisory process for crypto assets has taken longer than expected. Furthermore, Bappebti noted that it was collaborating with other ministries and agencies, such as Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Ministry of Finance, as well as the community at large, to ensure proper supervision for crypto assets.
More than 17 million cryptocurrency users
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, with more than 277 million inhabitants, according to data from Worldometers. Of this population, almost 6%, or about 17,5 million people, are users of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Because of this, the launch of a national platform for the exchange of cryptocurrencies and the development of crypto activities in the country is of utmost importance and represents a milestone for the crypto sector, as it can further boost the adoption and development of cryptocurrencies in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
In addition, Noordiatmoko pointed out that public interest in trading crypto assets continues to grow and that the trading volume of digital assets had increased by 9,3% in June of this year compared to May, which shows the public's interest in cryptocurrencies.
In 2022, Chainalysis ranked Indonesia among the top 20 countries with the highest adoption of cryptocurrencies globally. Currently, the most traded cryptocurrencies in Indonesia are Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and BNB Coin (BNB).
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