A national cryptocurrency exchange is expected to be launched before the change of crypto regulators.
The Republic of Indonesia is reportedly planning to launch its national cryptocurrency exchange in 2023.
According to the Bloomberg report shared on January 4th, the country in Southeast Asia expects to roll out its cryptocurrency exchange before the country's financial reform takes place.
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In December, the news broke that Indonesia has passed several financial reforms affecting the central bank of Indonesia, the capital markets, pensions, digital money and cryptocurrencies.
In the crypto regulatory reform, the government of Indonesia has authorized a shift of crypto regulators from the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency of Indonesia (Bappebti) to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The complete move between regulators should happen in two years.
When talking about the shift of authorities regulating crypto, a head of Financing and Risk Management of the National Finance Ministry, Suminto Sastrosuwito, stated:
In fact, crypto assets have become an investment and financial instruments, so they need to be regulated on an equal basis with other financial and investment instruments.
In 2017, Indonesia banned crypto payments. However, until this day, the government allows citizens to use digital assets for trading. Nevertheless, in December, Perry Warjiyo, the Governor of the Bank of Indonesia, announced the launch of a digital rupiah.
In its report, Bloomberg noted that, at the end of 2022, there were around 16 million crypto investors in the country. Compared to the end of 2021, the number grew by almost 5 million. However, Bloomberg highlighted that trading volume had dropped significantly, from 859 trillion rupiahs (around $55 billion) to 300 trillion rupiahs (around $19.2 billion).
It is worth noting that Indonesia currently allows citizens to trade using 383 crypto assets and ten local coins. Nevertheless, Bappebti is reportedly reviewing another 151 digital assets and ten local coins.
At the beginning of April 2022, Indonesia planned to issue value-added taxes (VAT) for cryptocurrency transactions.
