On Thursday, the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) announced the launch of its own national crypto exchange, which activated on July 17th. The platform was in development since the closing months of 2021, initially scheduled to debut by December 2022. The launch was painstakingly sustained through many delays.
In Indonesia, cryptocurrencies have been disallowed for payment, however legally allowed for investment purposes, as is demonstrated by post-pandemic data which shows that around 17 million people had invested in crypto. As a response to this, the introduction of the new bourse is targeted towards introducing stronger cryptographic regulations in the country, with it being the only allowed legal channel for cryptocurrency trading.
Licensed participants will be approved to buy and sell at least 500 approved altcoins, like Tokocrypto or Indodax created by reputable firms such as Binance. The exchange has taken on a ‘restricted’ policy for coping with their relation to the global market, meaning that only local transactions can be processed. Furthermore, PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara will manage the details of the bazaar, while PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia secure’s the transactions as PT Tennet Depository Indonesia manages the virtual currency reserves.
In light of this recent unveiling, licensed traders will be granted their own one-month window in which to sign up to the new exchange.