Indonesia to launch national crypto exchange

Opening of National Exchange of Indonesia is scheduled for this year. And it should take place before the change of transfer of crypto-assets supervision to the new regulator. Review by Crypto-Upvotes experts

The Indonesian government plans to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange as part of financial sector reform. The project is to be completed in 2023, before the authority to oversee cryptocurrencies in the country is transferred to a new regulator.

The local Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (BAPPEBTI) now regulates crypto-assets in Indonesia. According to a spokesman for the agency, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will take over oversight of cryptocurrencies over the next two years. A national cryptocurrency exchange should already be up and running by the time regulators switch powers.

In 2021, Indonesia’s Central Bank Governor Perry Warjiyo announced the regulator’s intention to issue its own national digital currency (CBDC). Currently, Indonesian law prohibits the use of cryptocurrency as a payment instrument. However, trading in digital assets in Indonesia is allowed.

In 2018, Tokocrypto crypto exchange was officially launched in the country. The platform became the first cryptocompany in Indonesia approved by BAPPEBTI. Since 2020, Binance has been one of the investors of the exchange. The size of Changpeng Zhao’s stake has not been disclosed, but last December the media twice reported on the leading Binance’s plans to gradually increase its stake in Tokocrypto to 100%. Each of the news was accompanied by a sharp rise in the platform’s native token (TKO).

Our experts note that Asian market is probably important to Binance as a whole. And the exchange is entering it by acquiring stakes in local trading venues. In late November last year, the exchange acquired a stake in Japan’s Sakura Exchange (SEBC), a platform officially regulated by the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA). On January 2, local media reported on Binance’s plans to buy one of Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Gopax.