Bitcoin Regulations: Bank Indonesia Only Prohibits Payment Transactions (UPDATED)

Bank Indonesia (BI) stated that regulations regarding the prohibition of bitcoin will be limited to closing all forms of transactions that use bitcoin as a means of payment. This regulation will be issued on Monday (4/12), after being signed by BI on Wednesday (29/11).

In this regulation, BI reiterates that bitcoin is not recognized as a legal tender in Indonesia. There will be closing points pintu meetings for all activities that facilitate payments with bitcoin and so on.

"The point is we don't recognize bitcoin as a legal tender. It is planned that later there will be provisions that candiscouragement activities that facilitate bitcoin. Discourage what i mean is this discouragement active by prohibiting. We are just waiting for the provisions," explained the Head of the BI Communications Department Agusman when contacted DailySocial, Thursday (30/11).

Further, quoted from Indonesian CNN, the rules will later emphasize the prohibition of transactions using bitcoin between individuals. Because the prohibition for financial service providers has been regulated in PBI Number 18 of 2016 concerning the Implementation of Payment Transaction Processing. If a company is caught using bitcoin, its business license will be revoked and penalized.

"If banks dare to transact bitcoins, we will give strict sanctions. But what happens is that bitcoins are not transacted through payment system service providers. So for individuals, we can only prohibit them. BI Eni Panggabean Payment System Policy.

Industry players' feedback

Separately, when contacted DailySocial, CEO of Bitcoin Indonesia Oscar Darmawan stated that in terms of business model, Bitcoin Indonesia is not a company that provides payments with bitcoin. They act marketplace which provides buying and selling of digital assets such as bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, and others. If the regulation is issued, it will not greatly affect the company's business.

His party will participate in waiting for the rules that will be issued by BI and try to comply with all the rules of the game later.

"In my personal opinion, BI is in charge of the payment regulator. So their authority is to make regulations regarding this matter. We also realize that the only legal payment in Indonesia is Rupiah. However, if people have bitcoins, Singapore dollars, or US dollars, America is not something you shouldn't have, is it?" Oscar said.

Another player operating in Indonesia, Luno, through Country Analyst in Indonesia Claristy, commented:

"We are aware of the latest regulations from Bank Indonesia that prohibit the use of Bitcoin as a means of payment. However, we have not seen any regulations prohibiting the use of Bitcoin as an investment asset. The majority of customers on the Luno platform and around the world buy Bitcoin as an investment asset. We agree with regulators that we need to keep the financial and digital currency industry free from criminal activities and money laundering, both in Indonesia and around the world. We fully support and are ready to collaborate if regulators, either BI or OJK, issue special regulations or frameworks to digital currency industry in Indonesia."

Update: added Luno's statement