Indonesia targets launch of its national crypto exchange by June

Indonesia's financial services regulator first expressed its intentions to establish a crypto exchange back in 2021.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade is reportedly aiming to roll out a national crypto exchange by June this year, six months after its previous target of December 2022.

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan shared the new target launch date on Feb. 2 at the opening of Crypto Literacy Month in Jakarta, noting that the government is currently reviewing which companies meet their criteria to become part of the exchange, according to local reports.

There are five active crypto exchanges which are currently registered with the country's regulators, and according to Zulkifli the ministry’s crypto exchange could encompass all of them.

While these exchanges are currently facilitating all trades within the nation, the ministry’s exchange would act as a clearing house and custodian in the local crypto market.

A clearing house is essentially a mediator between a buyer and seller, ensuring the transaction goes smoothly. At the same time, its role as a custodian would see it manage the movement of assets between the two parties.

The Trade Minister urged the public to be patient with the national crypto exchange, saying: “Let us not rush because if it is not ready, things will get messy. The government does not want this to massively take a toll on the public because people do not know much [about crypto trading].”

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Indonesia had planned to set up its crypto exchange by the end of 2022, but it was delayed due to a number of obstacles.

Crypto assets in the country are currently traded alongside commodity contracts and supervised by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency — also known as Bappebti — but the regulatory power will shift to the Financial Services Authority following the creation of a national exchange.

The regulatory shift comes in response to new crypto regulations ratified on Dec. 15, which recognize crypto and other digital assets as regulated financial securities.

On Dec. 5 the Bank of Indonesia’s Governor Perry Warjiyo had announced that a central bank digital currency it was planning to launch would be the only legal digital tender in the nation.