Indonesia has finally made history as the first country in the world to have a crypto exchange. The exchange is called PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara and was established based on the decree of the Head of Bappebti number 01/BAPPEBTI/SP-BBAK/07/2023 issued on July 17, 2023.
The process of establishing this crypto exchange was initiated by the government through Bappebti, an institution under the Ministry of Trade. This decision is a step forward by the Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti) and places Indonesia as a pioneer in providing a crypto asset trading platform.
Indonesia's move is different from many countries where crypto asset trading is usually conducted through exchanges. Bappebti then appointed PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia as the futures clearing house for crypto asset trading and PT Tennet Depository Indonesia as the crypto asset custodian. This step shows the government's commitment to create a fair and legal crypto asset trading ecosystem with the best protection for the public as customers.
In developing and strengthening crypto exchanges, clearing houses and crypto custodians, Bappebti does not work alone. They collaborate with relevant ministries/agencies such as the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Bank Indonesia (BI), and the Ministry of Finance, and involve the broader community.
As of June 2023, there were 17.54 million registered customers for crypto assets in Indonesia, exceeding the number of investors in the capital market, which reached 11.23 million. Still in June 2023, the transaction value of physical trading of crypto assets reached Rp 8.97 trillion, an increase of 9.3% compared to the previous month. The most traded crypto assets include Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Binance Coin (BNB).
Nevertheless, in the first half of 2023, the volume of crypto transactions in Indonesia reached 66.44 trillion rupiah, a decrease of 68.65 percent compared to the same period last year.
The head of the Ministry of Trade's Bappebti, Didid Noordiatmoko, explained that the decline in transaction value was caused by several factors, including the decline in trading volume in the global crypto market, a liquidity crisis that affected price stability and market efficiency, and selling pressure that caused a correction in the price of crypto assets.
The Federal Reserve's interest rate hike policy has also affected people's behavior, with many switching from digital asset transactions to savings. In addition, people are also waiting for the government's policy regarding the P2SK law.
Despite this, blockchain technology is still in demand, and more and more large companies such as Meta, Google, and Twitter are integrating this technology into their business activities. This shows that the development of physical trading of crypto assets is still promising in the future.
