Acquired by Binance, Tokocrypto Performs Complete Restructuring

Crypto asset trading platform Tokocrypto again announced significant changes in the organization following the action of adding ownership by Binance as the company's majority shareholder.

Tokocrypto is cutting employees (layoffs) the second volume with up to 58% adjustment. Outside exchange, the activities of other business units will be temporarily postponed until later they are aligned with the Tokocrypto business plan in 2023.

Organizational restructuring

Binance officially increased its shareholding portion gradually to almost 100%. In its official statement, the agreement was decided by both parties when Binance first started inject investment into Tokocrypto in 2020 with an undisclosed amount.

Previously, CoinDesk Indonesia said that Binance had officially annexed one of the largest crypto asset trading platforms in Indonesia. However, Binance founder Changpeng Zao (CZ) responded that Binance was the majority shareholder in Tokocrypto from the start. "[Binance] just injected more cash and increased our shareholding a bit," said CZ through he tweeted.

This decision has an impact on changes and streamlining of the organizational structure in order to comply with the latest CoFTRA regulations. As a result, Tokocrypto Founder and CEO Pang Xue Kai will step down from his position and hand over the leadership seat to Yudhono Rawis as Interim CEO. Kai will support the company with his new position on the Board of Commissioners.

Then, Tokocrypto again cut the number of its employees so they could focus on improving performance and managing operational costs with this volatile market situation. Previously, Tokocrypto had done this layoffs to 45 employees out of a total of 227 employees last September.

"This decision was made after careful consideration. We decided that the best step for Tokocrypto going forward is to utilize Binance's ability to build a sustainable physical trading platform for crypto assets," said Pang Xue Kai in his official statement.

However, the company ensures that there will be no change in the name of Tokocrypto, and the two companies will continue to operate independently. "Tokocrypto came from our idea more than four years ago, and I am very proud to see every growth, achievement, and contribution that the company has made to advance Indonesia's digital economy," added Kai.

Meanwhile, affected employees will be given rights in accordance with government regulations and get job recommendations to Web3 companies or blockchain others who are partners of Tokocrypto. One of them is Binance.

Interim CEO Tokocrypto Yudhono Rawis added, "Unfortunately, we had to downsize the company to ensure we remain in a good position to face uncertain macroeconomic conditions. We express our sincere apologies to the employees affected."

Officially present since 2018, Tokocrypto is listed as the first regulated crypto asset trader at Bappebti. The company received funding from QCP Capital, a digital asset trading and investment company based in Singapore. In 2019, it launched the Launchpad Store to bridge the project blockchain through an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO).

Crypto market

This step is considered to support the growth of the Web3 sector in Indonesia where both of them will continue to create a compliant and responsible crypto environment. In addition, Binance will continue to support Tokocrypto in establishing close communication with regulators in Indonesia to ensure all of its activities comply with regulations.

For companies, public interest in digital investment will be the right place to adopt Web3 products/services and provide a test ground to expand capabilities blockchain more in Indonesia.

Based on the latest report "Indonesia Crypto Outlook 2022" released by the Indonesian Blockchain Association (ABI) and Indonesia Crypto Network (ICN), the crypto market has grown exponentially since the last six years. Digital penetration fuels ecosystem growth blockchain and crypto in Indonesia.

Currently, internet penetration reaches 77% or as many as 271 people are connected to the network. Interestingly, this report reveals the number of crypto investors in Indonesia as of October 2022 was 16,4 million people, surpassing capital market investors of 9,98 million people.

However, during the January-October 2022 period, crypto transactions in Indonesia fell by 61% or to IDR 279,8 trillion from the same period last year which broke the IDR 717,99 trillion mark.

Quoting Liputan6.com, Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Crypto Asset Traders (ASPAKRINDO) Teguh Kurniawan Harmanda assessed that the decline in the volume of crypto transactions in Indonesia occurred due to the domino effect of the global macroeconomic crisis. The market was sluggish due to the monetary policy of the United States (US),

"Global financial system shocks can have a sizeable effect on the crypto market. These shocks are a macroeconomic situation that is faltering due to recession and heated geopolitics. This can make the situation crypto winter could happen." He said.