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Indonesia plans to create a national crypto exchange this year as part of the reform of its crypto regulation. The government aims to launch the platform before the planned transfer of regulatory power for the digital assets space from the commodities to securities authority is implemented.
This was revealed on January 4, 2023, by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency of Indonesia (Bappebti), Didid Noordiatmoko who confirmed that the crypto exchange will be established within the year, Cointelegraph reported. The decision for setting up a national crypto exchange is part of the government’s broader financial reform which was initiated in December last year.
Regulatory oversight over the crypto industry will slowly be taken away from Bappebti, Indonesia’s commodities-focused regulator, in the next two years as part of the report. Regulatory powers will be slowly assumed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
On December 15, 2023, the House of Representatives of Indonesia the Financial Sector Development and Reinforcement bill (P2SK), which officially made it the country’s financial service sector’s primary legal reference. Meanwhile, Suminto Sastrosuwito, head of Financing and Risk Management under the National Finance Ministry, explained the rationale behind the transfer of regulatory powers for the digital assets sector from Bappebti to the FSA.
“In fact, crypto assets have become investment and financial instruments, so they need to be regulated on an equal basis with other financial and investment instruments,” he said.
While crypto payments have been banned in the country since 2017, trading in digital assets has largely remained legal in Indonesia. Due to the crypto market downturn, the total value of crypto transactions in the country fell by half last year - from 859.4 trillion Indonesian rupiahs ($55 million) in 2021 to 296.66 trillion ($19 million) in 2021.
The country has recently revealed plans of joining the central bank digital currency (CBDC) race. Bank of Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo announced in December 2022 that the monetary authority is set to release the conceptual design of a digital rupiah for public discussion.
