JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) warned on Tuesday that financial firms will not be allowed to offer and facilitate the sale of crypto assets amid a boom in crypto trading in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
“OJK has strictly prohibited financial services firms from using, marketing and/or facilitating crypto asset trading,” the regulator said in a statement on Instagram.
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It warned that the value of crypto assets often fluctuates and that people who buy digital assets should fully understand the risks.
“Beware of allegations of Ponzi crypto investment scams,” it added, without elaborate.
The warning follows similar concerns from the central banks of Thailand and Singapore.
Crypto asset trading is booming in Indonesia, reaching a total of 859 trillion rupiah ($59.83 billion) in 2021, compared to just 60 trillion rupiah in 2020, media outlets reported, citing data from the Ministry of Commerce.
Indonesia allows the sale of crypto assets on the commodities exchange and trading is overseen by the Ministry of Commerce and the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, not by the OJK.
The ministry is currently facilitating the creation of a separate digital asset exchange called the Digital Futures Exchange, which officials say will be launched in the first quarter.
However, cryptocurrencies cannot be legally used for payments in the country.
($1 = 14,357,000 rupiah)
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