Indonesia Draws Broker Expansion as Thai Firms Face Margin Pressure

Broker activity in Indonesia includes one completed acquisition, a new Jakarta office and proposed Robinhood deals, while survey results show varied investment channels and Thai brokerages face declining volumes, squeezed margins and rising costs.

Indonesia’s capital-market investor tally reached 28.9 million in June 2026, compared with 3,880,753 at the end of 2020. A separate June snapshot counted 22.69 million crypto-asset investors and IDR 28.58 trillion in crypto transactions during the month. The totals cover different categories and do not show whether individuals appear in both counts.

A September 2026 survey of 1,200 consumers, with 200 respondents each in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, found that 65% already invested and 26% planned to begin within 12 months. Among investors in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, investment and trading apps were the most commonly named primary channel, at 49%, 48% and 44%, respectively. Digital wallets or super apps were the primary method for 31% of investors in the Philippines, compared with 3% in Singapore.

Broker expansion has included completed local investments. Hanwha Investment & Securities completed its purchase of an 80% stake in Indonesia’s Ciptadana Securities Asia in 2024. PT Doo Financial Futures, an Indonesian licensed futures broker, held a ceremony for its Jakarta office on Apr. 10, 2025.

Robinhood announced on Dec. 7, 2025, that it had agreed to acquire Indonesian securities broker PT Buana Capital Sekuritas and licensed digital-asset trader PT Pedagang Aset Kripto. It initially targeted closing both deals in the first half of 2026, subject to approval from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) and other regulators. Its second-quarter 2026 presentation listed both acquisitions as pending close.

“Indonesia represents a fast-growing market for trading, making it an exciting place to further Robinhood’s mission to democratize finance for all,” said Patrick Chan, the company’s head of Asia, when the deals were announced.

Indonesia completed the transfer of digital-asset oversight, including crypto, from the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) to OJK on Jan. 20, 2026.

Thailand’s brokerage industry faces declining trading volumes, compressed margins and rising operating costs. Medium and smaller firms have struggled to invest at scale in technology, product innovation, governance and investor engagement.