The founder of a crypto-focused hedge fund is looking ahead to see which industry niches might thrive once the current bear market cycle ends. In an interview with RealVision, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead tells host Raoul Pal that the world of crypto is cyclical because as projects either complete or fade away, there are […]
The post Here Are Some of the Biggest Plays in Crypto Right Now, According to Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
The central bank of Indonesia is working to issue a wholesale digital rupiah. The new currency is meant to be the only legal tender for digital transactions in the country while the regulator also wants to ensure that it will be exchangeable across borders. Digital Rupiah Concept Expected by Year End Indonesia’s monetary authority is […]
The latest $113 million fund injection will be redirected to scale the platform’s existing offerings, such as introducing new features and added support for blockchains.
Indonesian crypto asset platform Pintu announced the closure of a $113 million Series B funding round participated by four prominent investors Pantera Capital, Intudo Ventures, Lightspeed and Northstar Group.
Licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) under the Ministry of Trade, Pintu caters to Indonesian crypto investors dealing in popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Bappepti previously highlighted the doubling in the number of Indonesian crypto investors in 2021-2022, to which Jeth Soetoyo, Founder and CEO of Pintu, said:
“We believe that crypto adoption in Indonesia is only in its beginning stages, and educating users on the fundamentals is critical to ensuring this growth continues in a healthy way.”
The latest $113 million fund injection will be redirected to scale the platform’s existing offerings, such as introducing new features and support for blockchains. The company also plans to add more tokens and launch new products to solidify its position in Indonesia further.
In just two years since its inception, Pintu launched numerous features on its mobile application that allow users to earn and stake their crypto holdings. In addition, a part of the Series B funding will be dedicated to Pintu Academy, an educational program for crypto traders that aims to spread awareness about the opportunities and risks of crypto investing.
Related: Celebrity tokens: Signs of rising crypto adoption in Indonesia
A recent Cointelegraph analysis from April 3 pointed out that crypto investments in Indonesia saw considerable growth between 2020-2022, with 4% of the country’s population having invested in crypto.
However, celebrity involvement in crypto seemingly fueled the adoption spree among Indonesian investors. In addition to the participation of popular stars such as Joe Taslim, Jessica Iskandar and Shandy Aulia, the Indonesian celebrity crypto scene witnessed numerous nonfungible token (NFT) launches.
With over 270 million people, Indonesia is the fourth-most populous country in the world and its economy is one of the largest markets in Asia. It also has a large unbanked population, a receptive regulatory environment and additional factors making it stand out for crypto adoption. In the latest episode of the News Podcast we […]
More than half of respondents in India, Brazil and Hong Kong made the first purchase of a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin in 2021.
The number of cryptocurrency owners has massively increased last year, with nearly half of all owners worldwide buying crypto for the first time in 2021, according to a new report.
Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has polled about 30,000 respondents in 20 countries between November 2021 and February 2022 to provide a picture of a rapidly expanding crypto ecosystem. The company released the survey findings as part of its “2022 Global State of Crypto” report shared with Cointelegraph on Monday.
According to Gemini’s findings, crypto adoption skyrocketed in 2021 in countries like India, Brazil and Hong Kong as more than half of respondents started investing in crypto 2021. The number of such respondents amounted to 54% in India and 51% both in Brazil and Hong Kong.
Elsewhere in the world, Latin America (LATAM) and the Asia Pacific (APAC) respondents were also actively buying crypto in 2021, with 46% of respondents in LATAM and 45% in APAC purchasing their first crypto in 2021. 44% of respondents in the United States and 40% in Europe started investing in 2021, according to the report.
Gemini also found that countries like Indonesia and Brazil are leading the world in terms of the share of cryptocurrency investors among the general population. According to the report, 41% of respondents both in Brazil and Indonesia reported owning crypto, compared to just 20% in the United States, 18% in Australia and 17% in Europe.
Crypto ownership rates are reportedly also significantly high in counties like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Israel, with 35% of respondents in the UAE, 30% of respondents in Singapore and 28% of Israeli respondents reporting holding crypto.
The report also cited the uncertainty over crypto regulation and lack of education as two of the biggest impediments to the mass adoption of crypto. Among non-owners, 39% of respondents in APAC, 37% in LATAM, and 36% in Europe said that there was legal uncertainty around crypto. 30% of respondents in the Middle East, 24% in the Asia Pacific and 23% in Latam, also indicated that crypto tax reporting kept them away from buying crypto.
Related: DeFi, Web3, CBDC still unknown for most: Survey
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Gemini predicted last year that the number of U.S. crypto investors would nearly double in 2021. According to some other surveys, the number of new crypto investors in the country was far more than that in 2021. According to the “Crypto Perception Report 2022” released by the Huobi crypto exchange in January, about 70% of crypto owners in the U.S. started investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for the first time in 2021.
The Indonesian government has decided to tax capital gains income from crypto investments at 0.1% starting in May. In addition, value-added tax (VAT) of the same rate will be levied on crypto purchases. Indonesia to Start Taxing Crypto Income at 0.1% The Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes, the Ministry of Finance, has set income tax […]
Some of Indonesia's best-known celebs have helped fan the flames of interest in digital assets.
Cryptocurrency investments in Indonesia have seen considerable growth between 2020-2022, with 4% of the country’s population having invested in crypto.
In 2021, crypto transaction volumes surpassed $34 billion, according to Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency.
This growth has formed a new mindset toward crypto investment, especially in the mainstream media. One example of cryptocurrencies’ growing appeal in the mainstream is the participation of Indonesian celebrities and influencers.
Celebrities and influencers in Indonesia seem to have become much more involved in Indonesia’s crypto investment industry since 2021.
Many have become brand ambassadors for exchanges and crypto projects to help promote them and essentially raise the trading volume.
The participation of individuals such as Joe Taslim, an Indonesian actor that has gone global, and Indonesian models and actresses Jessica Iskandar and Shandy Aulia might not be surprising, considering celebrities’ inescapable presence in advertising and branding.
Some celebrities have even created their own cryptocurrency.
The trend of celebrity tokens has boomed, especially after one of the most prominent musicians in Indonesia, Anang Hermansyah, created his own token.
Three tokens have gone viral in Indonesia as of February 2022: VCG (VCG), Asix (ASIX) and I-Coin (ICN).
Asix is led by Anang Hermansyah, a prominent figure in Indonesia’s music industry.
VCG went viral thanks to a partnership with RANS Entertainment. This company is owned by Raffi Ahmad and Nagita Slavina, a married couple who are prominent movie stars and business figures in Indonesia and were recently nominated as the Sultans of Contents by Forbes Indonesia.
I-Coin was created by Wirda Mansur, a public figure and daughter of a renowned Indonesian Islamic cleric.
The name of celebrities supporting them and their marketing team has made their token viral and gotten a lot of fear of missing out, or FOMO, from Indonesia’s newbie investors.
But, long before these, the trend started with an influencer named Indra Kenz, who created his own token with his team named Botxcoin (BOTX).
Related: Indonesia’s crypto industry in 2021: A kaleidoscope
BOTX, an Ethereum-based project that plans to be a decentralized social trading platform, launched in 2021.
BOTX is the first celebrity token in Indonesia and its goal is to become the first decentralized copy trading platform for crypto in Indonesia.
Following its launch, influencers seemed to pay more attention to the growing blockchain and crypto trend. The trend led to an array of influencers talking about cryptocurrency on their own social media.
When this happened, nonfungible tokens (NFTs) also became very popular in Indonesia, especially when the Indonesian NFT collection dubbed “Ghozali Everyday” became globally known for its uniqueness.
Because of the booming crypto and NFT trends, influencers and celebrities have started creating their own NFT and cryptocurrency projects.
One Indonesian celebrity who created their own NFT Projects and went viral globally was Syahrini, an Indonesian singer and socialite.
Under the pseudonym Princess Syahrini, she created an NFT collection and sold them on Binance’s NFT marketplace. It was reported that her “Syahrini’s Metaverse Tour” NFT collection sold out after just eight hours of being listed.
Another prominent figure in Indonesia’s entertainment industry that created their own NFT project was actress, model and singer Luna Maya.
She launched her collection consisting of just 10 NFTs with Tokau, a Japan-based art company that has NFT creation experience.
Her collection was sold on the BakerySwap NFT Marketplace and caught a lot of attention, including from Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance.
The trend continued with more celebrities in Indonesia exploring, promoting and creating their own NFT projects.
One example of recent Indonesian influencers and celebrities promoting NFT projects was actor Brandon Salim, renowned Indonesian chef Arnold Poernomo and influencer known as Jejouw.
They promoted one of the most successful NFT projects in Indonesia that went global, “Karafuru,” which has a current trading volume of 37,200 Ether (ETH).
With the runaway hype of celebrities creating their own NFT and crypto projects, regulators are stepping in to protect investors.
The Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, also known as BAPPEBTI, is currently giving warnings to celebrities to get their projects approved in the Indonesia legal crypto list before promoting them.
BAPPEBTI, which is responsible for regulating crypto in Indonesia, warns that there are only 229 cryptocurrencies that are legal to trade and transact in Indonesia.
By that warning, BAPPEBTI wants investors to understand that buying or selling celebrity-created tokens in Indonesia is not yet legal. The warning comes from a Twitter thread, originating when new investors began pouring money into viral celebrity tokens:
“New crypto assets that are going to be traded in Indonesia, should be registered under BAPPEBTI through registered crypto exchanges in Indonesia to be assessed by the rules that are applied in Indonesia. For that reason, crypto assets that have not been registered on BAPPEBTI’s legal crypto assets list cannot be traded in Indonesia.”
As of right now, most of the illegal cryptocurrencies have not been fined or given any sentences because most of them are in talks with BAPPEBTI. BAPPEBTI is open to new crypto to be legal in Indonesia, as long as they want to comply with the requirements and processes to be legal and be supervised under the agency.
Currently, there hasn’t been any talk of banning these tokens from the government but rather an invitation for these tokens to be listed as a legal commodity in Indonesia.
BAPPEBTI has also worked with its committees such as the Indonesia Blockchain Association to help create a better environment for crypto in Indonesia, especially with the rise of celebrity tokens.
Coinvestasi has successfully gotten a comment from the aforementioned committee around the topic of celebrity tokens.
The comment directly came from the chairwoman of Indonesia Blockchain Association. She stated:
“My perspective on the celebrity token trend in Indonesia is neutral as long as they comply with existing regulations, because for the past couple of years, there are lots of Indonesians that created their own cryptocurrencies. But what I think is important for Indonesian developers to understand is that their cryptocurrencies must have values for investors and users and must have something that differentiate them from other existing cryptocurrencies. This is because they have a responsibility to their investors and token holders. Developers need to work together to help change the mindset of cryptocurrencies as a scam in Indonesia.”
This statement clearly shows that the government wants the best for crypto investors and creators in Indonesia. It can be concluded that Indonesia’s government supports the growth of cryptocurrencies as long as it is done in a regulated and safe manner.
The trend of celebrities and influencers joining up to create and promote crypto projects has made Indonesia’s crypto landscape bigger.
Data showed that the growth has been exponential, reaching more than 100% growth in transaction volumes since 2020, largely supported by retail investors.
Institutions also became interested, as evidenced by their participation in funding and investing in blockchain or crypto-related projects.
Major business conglomerate Sinar Mas supported the launch of a new cryptocurrency named NanoByte (NBT), which has Tokocrypto exchange as its partner.
Nanobyte is a token created by an exchange that also plans to be integrated into the current fiat payment system, integrating with e-money and credit cards in Indonesia. This is to help investors and holders use their crypto wallets and NBT to pay for their everyday needs.
Another example is BRI Ventures, the venture arm of one of Indonesia’s leading government-owned banks, which created an accelerator that acts as an incubator for Indonesian blockchain companies to grow globally.
These projects could trigger a domino effect among Indonesian financial institutions to invest in the blockchain or crypto sector.
But, this also pressures regulators to develop new regulations to support the growth so that Indonesia does not get left behind.
Reporting by Muhammad Naufal.
Regulations, exchanges and local adoption help cryptocurrencies gain traction in Indonesia.
Crypto is the next big thing in Indonesia. According to the Ministry of Trade, transactions for currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) grew over 14 times from a total of 60 trillion rupiahs ($4.1 billion) in 2020 to a total of 859 trillion rupiahs ($59.83 billion) in 2021.
It’s getting to the point where crypto is becoming more popular than traditional stock. Vice Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga stated that more than 11 million Indonesians bought or sold crypto in 2021. In comparison, according to the Indonesian Central Securities Depository, the total number of portfolio investors — indicated by the number of single investor identities — reached 7.35 million in 2021.
Even so, 11 million crypto investors is still only about 4% of Indonesia’s total population, meaning there’s still plenty of room to grow. The crypto community’s growth in Indonesia goes hand-in-hand with several supporting local phenomena, including but not limited to:
Although crypto assets are still not permitted as payment instruments, companies are welcome to buy and sell crypto as trading commodities in Indonesia. Since 2019, cryptocurrency trading in Indonesia has been officially overseen and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (BAPPEBTI), a body under the Ministry of Trade.
This governing body is, among other things, in charge of vetting, documenting and approving companies and commodity items allowed to be traded in Indonesia. As of 2021, its whitelist of permitted crypto tokens reached 229 items, including popular assets such as Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA).
These items are permitted based on BAPPEBTI’s own vetting methods, considering market capitalization rankings as well as security, background checks on the development teams, blockchain system management, and development roadmaps with verifiable success metrics.
In an official statement, the governing body iterated its main objective of providing legal security and protecting the interests of Indonesian crypto consumers. BAPPEBTI stated:
“With the new rules that we had published, it is hoped that we and crypto exchanges in Indonesia could work together to help ensure that every crypto transaction is legally regulated and safe for investors in Indonesia.”
Another governing body, the Financial Service Authority, has specifically prohibited financial service companies, such as lending or credit services, from marketing or facilitating crypto trading, reiterating BAPPEBTI’s regulation that all crypto exchanges must be specifically registered with them.
The aforementioned boom in the number of both crypto and stock investors in Indonesia goes hand-in-hand with the rising popularity of fintech apps, such as Bareksa and Ajaib, meaning that a large portion of these new investors might be novices. Tokocrypto, a prominent local crypto exchange, has stated its intent to work together with the government to make trading more secure by helping educate investors about the risks of crypto trading and how to avoid legally dubious exchanges and assets.
Companies that plan to boost crypto adoption in Indonesia would need to build an active and positive working relationship with the government and ensure compliance with all of its regulations to gain local consumers’ trust.
Until March 2022, there have been 17 companies registered and permitted by BAPPEBTI to exchange cryptocurrencies in Indonesia, with their userbases rapidly increasing. A market leader, Indodax reported reaching 5 million members in 2022, a 104% increase compared to 2021. Another prominent exchange, Tokocrypto, had reported reaching 2 million members by the end of 2021, an eightfold increase compared to 2020.
As mentioned above, a large contributing factor to these platforms’ success is their mobile-first strategy, with easily accessible apps. With Indonesia’s internet penetration standing at 73.7% in 2021, it’s no wonder that there’s more traction from the country’s mobile-heavy user base.
Indonesia’s crypto community is also growing beyond just exchanges. The Indonesia Blockchain Association, a local consortium and advocacy group for blockchain and cryptocurrencies, has 28 member companies and organizations as of 2022. The association comprises not only exchanges but also startups and tech companies using blockchain in their ecosystem and media platforms specializing in crypto.
Steven Suhadi, co-founder of Indonesia Crypto Network and founding member of the Indonesia Blockchain Association, told Cointelegraph, “Regulators in Indonesia over the past 10 years have become adaptable to technological changes, from e-commerce to ride-hailing and, most recently, P2P [peer-to-peer] lending. Indonesia has clearly-defined rules for exchanges and crypto trading already. Over the last 24 months, regulators have taken more proactive steps for digital assets, which will help to proliferate Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Indonesia.”
More supply means more demand, and with more players entering the country, the stage is set for another boost in crypto’s popularity.
In December 2021, crypto exchange Binance announced a joint venture with a consortium led by MDI Ventures to develop a new digital asset exchange in Indonesia.
MDI is the $830-million venture capital arm of Indonesia’s largest telecommunications company, Telkom Indonesia. MDI’s portfolio boasts several companies that have gone on to become household names in Indonesia, including financial technology leaders Kredivo and KoinWorks.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao has expressed his confidence and objectives regarding crypto in Indonesia, stating, “With fast technology adoption and strong economic potential, Indonesia could become one of the leading centers of the blockchain and crypto ecosystem in Southeast Asia.”
This sentiment was repeated by MDI CEO Donald Wihardja, who stated, “Cryptocurrencies, crypto assets, and the underlying technology, blockchain, present an undeniably important part of the financial and other digital infrastructures in the future.”
It’ll be worth keeping a close eye on this partnership in the future, but right now, it can be considered a sign that crypto is no longer a niche market in Indonesia. More mainstream players have started moving into it, which could mean more resources and momentum to increase adoption.
With the rising trend in transaction volume and the number of traders as well as exchanges in recent years, we can assume that crypto and blockchain will only get bigger in 2022 and beyond. Nonfungible tokens (NFT) recently stepped into the spotlight in Indonesia after news broke about Ghozali, a computer science student who made over $1 million from selling NFT selfies on OpenSea. With Indonesia’s burgeoning crypto community and already vibrant artistic scene, NFTs might be the latest chapter in Indonesia’s crypto journey — either way, it’s become an emerging market to watch out for.
Reporting by Diaz Praditya.
The government is still reportedly considering how to implement crypto taxes, but legislation passed in response to the pandemic laid the groundwork.
The Indonesian government is reportedly planning to charge a 0.1% capital gains tax on crypto investments as well as a value-added tax, or VAT, on digital asset transactions starting from May 1.
According to a Friday Reuters report, Hestu Yoga Saksama, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s tax office, said the country will be imposing “income tax and VAT” on crypto assets “because they are a commodity as defined by the Trade Ministry” and “not a currency.” The government is still reportedly considering how to implement such taxes, but legislation passed in response to the pandemic laid the groundwork for collecting revenue on cryptocurrency transactions.
Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, also known as Bappebti, confirmed a report that in February 2022, crypto transactions in the country reached 83.8 trillion rupiah — roughly $5.8 billion. In addition, the number of crypto holders increased by more than 11%, from 11.2 million in 2021 to 12.4 million.
Cointelegraph reported that Indonesian government officials had considered imposing a tax on crypto transactions many times, even though it began warning its citizens about using digital assets for payments as early as 2014. The Bappebti recognized more than 200 cryptocurrencies as commodities, which could be legally traded, in December 2020 and named 13 exchanges as licensed crypto businesses in February 2021.
Related: Indonesia's crypto industry in 2021: A kaleidoscope
While Indonesia’s government may be preparing to establish a legal framework for cryptocurrencies, culture seems to be a factor in mainstream adoption. In November, the National Ulema Council, a group consisting of Islamic scholars — roughly 87% of Indonesia’s population identifies as Muslim — said crypto as a transaction tool was forbidden under its religious laws. Though the council’s rulings can reportedly be a source of “legislative inspiration,” they are not legally binding in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has prohibited financial firms from using, marketing, and/or facilitating crypto trading. The financial regulator also cautioned the public to always beware of fraudulent Ponzi schemes under the guise of crypto. Indonesian Regulator’s Crypto Warning Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Jakarta-based government agency which regulates the financial services sector, warned […]