Indonesia's crypto exchange launches in 2023

Reports indicate that in 2023, Indonesia will launch a cryptocurrency exchange as part of its effort to modernize its crypto regulatory framework. The platform's launch coincides with the transition from commodities to securities regulation. In a January 4 statement, Didid Noordiatmoko, the head of Indonesia's Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti), said the country should launch a cryptocurrency exchange in 2018. This change is part of a larger financial reform initiative that began in December 2022.

The reform stipulates that the Financial Services Authority will take over cryptocurrency regulation from the commodities-focused Bappebti within the next two years (FSA). On December 15th, the Indonesian House of Representatives ratified the Financial Sector Development and Reinforcement bill (P2SK), making it the primary legal reference in the financial services industry. According to Suminto Sastrosuwito, the head of Financing and Risk Management at the national finance ministry, the bill will cement the transfer of power from Bappebti to the FSA because:

"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."

While buying and selling cryptocurrencies is generally still legal in Indonesia, the country has banned their use for all payments as of 2017. Noordiatmoko reported in the first days of the new year that the value of crypto transactions in the country dropped by half in 2022, from 859.4 trillion Indonesian rupiahs ($55 million) to 296.66 trillion ($19 million). In December, Governor Perry Warjiyo of the Bank of Indonesia announced that the conceptual design of a digital rupiah, the country's fiat currency, would be released for public discussion.