Indonesia’s regulatory authorities have announced their plan to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange in 2023.
The move is part of a broader financial reform initiative that the country launched in December 2020, and comes as digital assets are currently traded alongside commodity contracts under the supervision of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti).
However, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is set to assume regulatory power over these assets within the next two years, at which point the national crypto exchange is expected to be established.
Despite current macroeconomic instability, investors have been attracted to the cryptocurrency market in Indonesia
Currently, there are 383 cryptocurrency assets and 10 local coins that can be traded in Indonesia, with an additional 151 assets and 10 coins currently being reviewed by Bappebti.
In addition to the establishment of a national cryptocurrency exchange, Indonesia has also made progress in the development of its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). In the fourth quarter of 2022, the central bank of Indonesia released a white paper on the digital Rupiah, following in the footsteps of other federal banks around the world that have been experimenting with their own CBDCs.