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Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has outlawed financial institutions from engaging in cryptocurrency trading, promoting it, or crypto ban in Indonesia. The banking authority also warned the public to look for fraudulent Ponzi schemes that masquerade as cryptocurrency investments.
The Cryptocurrency Warning from the Indonesian Regulator
In a warning issued on Tuesday, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), a government organization located in Jakarta that supervises the financial services industry, said that financial businesses are not permitted to sell or enable the sale of cryptocurrency assets.
Wimboh Santoso, the head of the OJK Board of Commissioners, issued the warning on the regulator’s official Instagram account, which has since been deleted. Reuters reported the following from the OJK:
The OJK has made it clear that financial service firms are not permitted to use, advertise, or facilitate the trade of cryptographic assets in the Indonesian crypto market.
The agency also issued a warning to the general public on investing in trading crypto Indonesia assets. “Crypto-assets themselves are a form of a commodity whose value fluctuates and may go up and down at any moment; therefore, people must be aware of the dangers,” the OJK noted. “People must be aware of the hazards.” On the other hand, Cryptocurrencies are not permitted to be used for payment in Indonesia.
In addition, the financial regulator warned the public to be on the lookout for fraudulent Ponzi schemes that masquerade as trading crypto Indonesia exchanges. The OJK was further quoted as saying: Please be on the lookout for reports of Ponzi scheme frauds using crypto ban in Indonesia.
The OJK clarified that it does not oversee or control cryptocurrencies in any manner. The Commodity Futures Trading Authority (CoFTRA) and the Ministry of Trade are responsible for the regulation and supervision of cryptocurrency Indonesia.
The ministry is presently assisting with establishing a digital asset exchange, known as the Digital Futures Exchange, which authorities expect to be operational by the first quarter of this year.
It is believed that more than 7.2 million individuals in Indonesia, or 2.66 percent of the overall population, presently hold bitcoin, according to the crypto payments business Triple-A. Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Trade statistics reported by the media, cryptocurrency Indonesia transactions totaled 859 trillion rupiahs ($59.83 billion) last year, representing a massive rise from the previous year’s figure of 60 trillion rupiahs.
