Jakarta, 17 June 2021 - Until the middle of 2021, the crypto asset market in Indonesia has consistently been in the spotlight due to its growth and high public interest. The growth of this crypto asset investor is predicted to exceed the growth rate of stock investors. According to data from BAPPEBTI itself, as of March 2021, the number of crypto asset investors has reached 4.45 million people.

 This massive growth of crypto-asset investment occurs along with the enthusiasm of investors to choose crypto assets as an alternative investment instrument. But on the other hand, there is still a need for balanced education for investors to understand the entire crypto-asset ecosystem in Indonesia, both in terms of regulations, exchanges, clearing institutions, crypto-asset traders, and others.

Based on the Head of BAPPEBTI Regulation Number 5 of 2019 concerning Technical Provisions for the Implementation of the Physical Crypto Asset Market on the Futures Exchange, there are four parties involved in the physical trading mechanism of crypto assets, namely Crypto Asset Physical Traders, Futures Exchanges, Clearing Houses, and Place Managers Storage (Depository).

In the "Crypto Ecosystem in Indonesia" Webinar session, Teguh Kurniawan Harmanda (Manda), COO of Tokocrypto said, "With the current growth in crypto-asset investment, we as crypto asset traders are responsible for providing a transaction platform that complies with the regulations set by the BAPPEBTI. This is to ensure the confidence and security of investors in investing.”

One of the concrete steps that can be implemented is integration with futures exchanges and clearing institutions registered with BAPPEBTI. “The integration of asset traders with futures exchanges and clearing houses such as ICH, will help asset traders report real-time records of ownership of crypto assets traded or stored daily to the clearinghouse. This is in line with BAPPEBTI Regulation No. 5/2019 concerning Technical Provisions for the Implementation of the Physical Market for Crypto Assets on the Futures Exchange from BAPPEBTI. On the other hand, this integration will ensure the security of transactions made by investors because they are guaranteed by the clearinghouse,” said Manda.

Seeing the current movement of crypto-asset investment, the government itself has launched various plans and regulations to regulate the security of crypto asset transactions such as the presence of crypto-asset exchanges and taxation. Manda said, “We support the government's plan regarding the existence of a crypto exchange. The existence of a crypto exchange will certainly help increase investor confidence to invest in crypto-assets and create a mature crypto-asset ecosystem climate. On the other hand, this shows that crypto assets are becoming one of the recognized and potential investment instruments for the government.”

Meanwhile, Jericho Biere, Research & Development Manager of ICDX said, “The opportunity for trading crypto assets in Indonesia is very good and prospective. Therefore, the need for supervision and security of crypto asset transactions is significant. The establishment of the Crypto Exchange and Crypto Asset Clearing House is intended to protect Indonesian crypto asset traders. ICDX and ICH have completed all the requirements that must be met to become a Crypto Exchange and Crypto Clearing House, and are waiting for the best decision from the regulator.”

Crypto exchanges and crypto clearinghouses will be supporting entities that act as an extension of the regulator and are neutral. This ecosystem will implement transaction monitoring and reporting mechanisms so that it can become a catalyst for the crypto asset industry. Thus, the Crypto Exchange and Crypto Clearing House as one ecosystem will protect crypto-asset transactions through a real-time verification mechanism, so that overall crypto asset trading is comprehensively monitored and the public can transact safely.