Indonesia to Tighten Crypto Regulation With Stricter Rules for Exchanges – At a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on Tuesday, officials from Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade and Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) stated that the country is ready to adopt new guidelines to tighten the regulation of crypto exchanges.
One of the new criteria stipulates that two-thirds of crypto exchange directors must be Indonesian citizens. Didid Noordiatmoko, acting head of Bappebti, told parliament: “That way, at least we can prevent the top management from fleeing the country if any problem arises.”
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Following the financial difficulties encountered by Southeast Asia-focused crypto exchange Zipmex, which had to cease withdrawals, the new measure was implemented. Additionally, crypto exchanges will be obliged to keep customer funds with a third party. Additionally, they will be barred from reinvesting stored cryptocurrencies.
After the parliamentary session, Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga told reporters, “We don’t want to give permits (to exchanges) carelessly, so only for those that meet the requirements and are credible.”
He mentioned, without specifying a timeframe, that Bappebti will shortly announce new rules. Sambuaga indicated that the Indonesian government still intends to launch a cryptocurrency exchange this year. The debut of the stock exchange has been repeatedly delayed.
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Indonesia recognizes cryptocurrencies as commodities but not as payment instruments. In April, the Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes announced that it has set the income tax (PPh) and value-added tax (VAT) on crypto purchases at 0.1%.
Crypto transactions in Indonesia increased 1,224% to 859.4 trillion rupiahs ($57.5 billion) in 2021 from 64.9 trillion rupiahs in 2020, according to Bappebti. In the first six months of this year, there were 15.1 million crypto users in Indonesia, transacting cryptocurrencies worth 212 trillion rupiahs.
