Indonesia plans to set up a crypto exchange in 2023 before it shifts regulatory powers over such assets to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), from a commodities agency, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, crypto assets in the country are currently traded alongside commodity contracts under the supervision of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, known as Bappebti.
The FSA will assume regulatory power over the assets over the next two years, by which time the exchange should be set up, Bappebti acting head Didid Noordiatmoko reportedly said on Wednesday. This is also part of a broader financial sector reform.
Indonesia has been supportive of crypto assets albeit wary of it competing against the rupiah, which is the only legal tender in the country. The central bank has issued a White Paper to map out its digital currency. A recently passed law also recognizes cryptocurrency and digital assets as regulated financial securities.
New investors are still rushing into the crypto market even as market activity plunged in 2022.
According to Bloomberg, there were 16 million crypto investors in Indonesia in the first 11 months of the year, from 11.2 million at the end of 2021. Trading value shrank to about 300 trillion rupiah during that period, a fraction of the 859 trillion rupiah seen in the previous year.
There are currently 383 crypto assets and 10 local coins that can be traded in Indonesia, with another 151 assets and 10 coins under review by Bappebti, according to the report.