Indonesia's Crypto Industry in 2021: A Kaleidoscope

In 2021, the fig of planetary crypto holders has been estimated to person accrued by 3.9% to much than 300 cardinal crypto users worldwide, with much than 18,000 businesses already accepting cryptocurrencies arsenic payment. India is presently successful the pb with 100 cardinal users, followed by the United States with 27 cardinal users and Russia with 17 cardinal users.

According to information from Triple A, Indonesia has the seventh-largest crypto idiosyncratic base, beneath Brazil and Pakistan. It is estimated that determination are 7.2 cardinal Indonesians who ain cryptocurrencies, portion according to the Indonesian Blockchain Association, arsenic of July 2021, the fig of crypto owners successful Indonesia is 7.4 cardinal people, an summation of 85% from 2020. This fig is importantly much than the fig of banal investors successful Indonesia with lone 2.7 cardinal investors, based connected information from the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

The full colonisation of Indonesia successful June was 272 cardinal people, which means that lone 2.7% of the Indonesian colonisation owns crypto. This shows that determination is inactive country for the crypto manufacture to grow, make and scope much corners of Indonesian society.

The accelerated maturation of crypto investors successful Indonesia is partially the effect of Indonesian regulators that person welcomed crypto and blockchain developments with unfastened arms. Throughout 2021, determination person been galore discussions with officials, caller crypto regulations and developments successful the sector. 

According to Dhila Rizqia, caput of maturation astatine section manufacture media steadfast Coinvestasi, the increasing fig of Indonesian crypto investors is besides reflected successful the emergence of the crypto media. “In 2021, Coinvestasi has gained a batch of caller audiences crossed our channels, including Instagram and YouTube which person grown implicit 1,787% and 1,388%, respectively.”

2021 has been an unthinkable thrust for cryptocurrencies, successful this nonfiction we’ll instrumentality a look astatine the hottest trends successful the Indonesian crypto manufacture past year.

Whitelist of ineligible integer assets

Bitcoin (BTC) is ineligible successful Indonesia arsenic a commodity and tin beryllium traded connected crypto exchanges. Early this year, the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (BAPPEBTI) issued a whitelist of ineligible crypto assets for trading successful Indonesia. 

This whitelist consists of 229 crypto assets, including Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA) and the fashionable memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE), that are allowed for trading connected registered exchanges. 

These crypto assets are selected by 2 approaches: The archetypal is simply a juridical attack which looks astatine the apical 500 coins based connected marketplace headdress successful accordance with the provisions successful regularisation Number 5 of 2019. 

The 2nd is done a process of hierarchy analysis, wherein BAPPEBTI assesses the information aspects, profiles of the founders and developer team, blockchain strategy governance, blockchain strategy scalability, roadmap and its verifiable progress. 

Crypto taxation

With the maturation of crypto users and investors successful Indonesia, the government, done BAPPEBTI and the Director General of Taxes, is besides considering imposing taxes connected crypto trading. For now, crypto taxation is inactive nether treatment with respective marketplace players specified arsenic exchanges and manufacture associations. 

BAPPEBTI stated that the crypto taxation successful Indonesia could beryllium astir 0.05%, little than the 0.1% taxation imposed connected banal trades.

Meanwhile, the authorities has reportedly begun to sermon an income taxation for investors successful crypto assets of 0.03%. 

Crypto is haram

The question of Bitcoin and crypto assets being halal (permissible) oregon haram (forbidden) nether Islamic instrumentality has been a agelong and heated debate. As a state with a bulk Muslim population, the taxable is of peculiar value for Indonesia.

In October, the East Java subdivision of 1 of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organizations ruled that portion the authorities whitethorn o.k. of cryptocurrencies, they cannot beryllium considered halal “based connected respective considerations, including the prevalence of fraud, it is considered unlawful.”

Less than 1 period later, the National Ulema Council (MUI) — Indonesia’s apical Islamic scholarly assemblage — found cryptocurrencies to beryllium haram owed to alleged elements of “uncertainty, wagering and harm.”

Furthermore, the trading of crypto arsenic a integer commodity/asset did not conscionable different requirements of Islamic fiscal instrumentality because, according to the MIU, it lacked indispensable elements specified arsenic having a carnal form, having value, being proprietary and capable to beryllium handed implicit to the buyer. 

NFTs find enactment from celebrities to the governor 

The improvement of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) successful Indonesia took disconnected successful 2021, particularly aft Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java, jumped connected this inclination by inviting artists from West Java to make and beforehand their creation arsenic NFTs to beryllium traded connected NFT platforms specified arsenic OpenSea. 

Indonesian vocalist Syahrini sold 17,800 NFTs for 20 Binance USD (BUSD) oregon astir 286,300 rupiahs per NFT connected the Binance NFT exchange, netting the vocalist a full income of astir 5.1 cardinal rupiahs, oregon $356,000.

There is besides cook Arnold Poernomo, a personage cook who besides created his ain NFT and promoted it connected Twitter.

Exchange tokens

Exchange-issued tokens specified arsenic Binance Coin (BNB) and FTX Token (FTT) tin beryllium utilized by holders to get benefits provided by the speech specified arsenic discounts connected deposits, nary withdrawal fees, opportunities to enactment successful promotional activities and truthful on. 

Indonesian section exchanges began to contented their ain specified tokens successful 2021, with Tokocrypto releasing Toko Token (TKO) successful collaboration with Binance connected Binance Launchpad. From the opening of this year’s listing, TKO has accrued by implicit 1,000%.

Domestic crypto speech PINTU launched its Pintu Token (PTU) successful November, which is present disposable connected assorted exchanges specified arsenic Bybit and FTX and is besides supported by starring investors similar Lightspeed, Coinbase and Pantera.

With 2 section exchanges launching their ain autochthonal tokens successful 2021, it volition beryllium absorbing to spot if different exchanges specified arsenic Indodax, Rekeningku oregon Triv travel suit successful 2022.

Binance partners with largest Indonesian telco

To headdress disconnected the twelvemonth Binance partnered with a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia, MDI Ventures, to make a caller exchange.

Within the collaboration, Binance volition supply infrastructure and plus absorption exertion to enactment the improvement of a crypto-asset speech platform, which volition beryllium a associated task betwixt the 2 firms.

Donald Wihardja, the CEO of MDI, said that the concern volition assistance beforehand crypto and blockchain, which helium believes are the fiscal systems of the figure.

With a affable regulatory atmosphere, enactment and partnerships from planetary cryptocurrency firms, and increasing involvement successful integer plus trading, it volition beryllium absorbing to spot however the manufacture continues to make successful 2022.