Indonesia is among the few countries which have implemented a balanced approach towards cryptocurrencies. Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Body (Bappebti) of Indonesia had issued a listing of 229 crypto assets that can be legally traded in Indonesia in Dec 2020. However, the utilization of cryptocurrency for payment is not allowed in the country.
The country’s officials also contemplated a plan to tax trading with Bitcoin and all altcoins. Neilmaldrin Noor, a spokesman at Indonesia’s tax office, asserted that the future implementations were still at a discussion phase, and no changes have yet been administered. Taxation is vital for the country’s economy and hence It is important to know that if there is a profit or capital gain generated from a crypto transaction, the profit is an object of income tax. So if anyone who receives capital gain on crypto trading has to pay the tax and report it to authorities.
Indonesia saw a massive adoption of crypto in the country. Crypto users have increased in the past months and according to a report, the largest crypto exchange platform Indodax registered more than 700 000 new members in the beginning months of 2021. The total number increased to 3 million now.
Indonesia Digital Rupiah
Indonesia’s central bank pushes forwards towards launching a central bank digital currency amid accelerated efforts to reduce cash transactions. The country saw a significant increase in digital transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic and planning to strengthen its effort towards cashless transfers by issuing a central bank digital currency digital rupiah.
Bank Indonesia (BI) data showed that the transaction frequency in digital banking platforms jumped 60.3% on an annual basis to more than 570 million times in April, while value rose 46% to reach 3,114.1 trillion rupiah ($217.4 billion).
”BI plans in the future to issue a central bank digital currency, digital rupiah…as a legal digital payment instrument in Indonesia.”
Governor Perry Warjiyo
Governor Perry Warjiyo confirmed the news and informed that the institution is yet to decide which platform to use and when exactly it will be launched.
He added that the institution is now exploring how the e-rupiah will fulfill its goal on monetary policy and payment systems and also determine the abilities of the financial infrastructure:
”We’re also, of course, considering our options on the technology that we will use.”
Governor Perry Warjiyo
The rupiah is the only legally accepted currency for payment in Indonesia, and the Indonesian central bank will treat the upcoming CBDC in the same way it treats banknotes and card-based transactions.
Indonesia will join other central banks in Asia, such as Hong Kong, Thailand, and South Korea, China, India who are working towards launching CBDC pilot programs. China, which has one of the most advanced projects globally, began city-wide testing of digital yuan last year.
Bank for International Settlements conducted a survey that showed Central banks representing one-fifth of the world’s population are likely to issue their own digital currencies in the next three years.
