Indonesia says it won’t ban cryptocurrencies like China

Indonesia has no intention of following China in imposing a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, a minister in President Joko Widodo’s administration said, noting that the country will take steps to ensure they are not used for illegal activities . The statement comes at a time when people in the country are concerned that the government is pursuing China’s authoritarian policies.

Indonesia does not prohibit trading in cryptocurrencies

The country’s trade minister, Muhammad Luthfi, stressed that the Indonesian government will not follow in the footsteps of China, which has confirmed a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions. However, the official added that the government is looking at ways to restrict their use in illegal financial activities. Minister Luthfi said:

“We’re not banning it, but we’re going to tighten the rules.”

Muhammad Luthfi, Indonesian Minister of Commerce

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin are now considered legal property and goods in Indonesia. Currently, people in this country are allowed to trade in cryptocurrencies, but not use them as a means of payment. It’s similar to our Synthetic Team.

In Synthetic Team, the law does not prohibit people from trading or storing cryptocurrencies, only as a means of payment. In fact, in addition to VND, all foreign currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP or assets such as gold, silver … are not recognized as legal tender on the territory of Synthetic Team *.

This week, the Central Bank of China announced that crypto-related transactions were illegal and pondered the restrictions imposed between 2013 and 2017. All related financial activities, including cryptocurrency trading, token sales, and derivatives trading, are also prohibited. That announcement dragged the crypto market down tens of billions of dollars in capitalization in just a few hours.

Cryptocurrency trading in Indonesia has peaked this year

According to reports, Indonesia’s crypto trading has grown tremendously over the past year and a half. Trading on 13 domestic exchanges licensed by the Indonesia Commodity Futures Exchange increased 40% in the first 5 months of 2021. In 2020, the trading volume reached 65 trillion rupiah (4.5 trillion rupiah).