Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has prohibited financial firms from using, marketing, and/or facilitating crypto trading. Public was also warned by the financial regulator to be wary of Ponzi schemes that use crypto as a disguise.
Indonesian Regulator’s Crypto Warning
Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Jakarta-based government agency which regulates the financial services sector, warned Tuesday that financial firms are not allowed to offer or facilitate sales of crypto assets.
The warning was conveyed by the chairman of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Wimboh Santoso, on the regulator’s official Instagram account. Reuters quotes the OJK saying:
OJK strictly prohibits financial institutions from marketing and/or facilitating crypto assets trading.
The OJK also warned the public against investing in crypto assets. “Crypto assets themselves are a type of commodity that has fluctuations in value which can go up and down at any time, so people must understand the risks,” the OJK stated. However, cryptocurrency cannot legally be used in Indonesia to make payments.
The financial regulator also reminded people to be cautious about fraudulent Ponzi schemes that use crypto as a disguise. According to OJK, this was also quoted:
Beware of Ponzi schemes in crypto investments.
OJK clarified that the OJK does not oversee or regulate cryptocurrency. The Commodity Futures Trading Authority, (CoFTRA), and the Ministry of Trade are responsible for the regulation and supervision of cryptocurrency assets in Indonesia.
The Ministry is currently helping to set up a digital asset broker called Digital Futures Exchange. Officials claim that it will launch in the first quarter.
According to crypto payments firm Triple A, it is estimated that over 7.2 million people, or 2.66% of Indonesia’s total population, currently own cryptocurrency. The media also cited data from the Ministry of Trade that showed crypto transactions exceeded 859 trillion rupees ($59.83 trillion) in 2017, a substantial increase over the 60 trillion rupees expected to be available by 2020.
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