Alchemy Pay has obtained a license from the central bank of Indonesia to operate remittances and fund transfers in cooperation with the local fintech Berkah Digital Pembayaran. Announcing the news on Feb. 27, Alchemy Pay noted that the Bank of Indonesia issued the licenses jointly to Alchemy Pay and Berkah Digital’s platform BDPay, enabling the firms to offer better payout methods and reduce associated operating costs. Fiat-to-crypto payment provider Alchemy Pay is expanding services in Asia by scoring new major regulatory approval in Indonesia. Exciting news! #AlchemyPay and @mybdpay have jointly received license from the Central Bank of Indonesia to …

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 …

As a part of its reform of crypto regulation, Indonesia will create a crypto exchange in 2023, according to reports. The platform is planned to be launched prior to a shift of regulatory power from commodities to securities authority. On Jan. 4, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency of Indonesia (Bappebti), Didid Noordiatmoko, stated that a crypto exchange should be set up this year. The move comes as a part of broader financial reform launched in December 2022. In accordance with the reform, in the next two years, the crypto oversight will be taken from Bappebti, a …

Binance has acquired Indonesian crypto asset trader Tokocrypto, according to local reports on Dec. 19. The purchase was confirmed in a tweet by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who characterized the deal as having “just injected more cash and increased our shareholding a bit.” Changes are expected at the exchange. Tokocrypto founder Pang Xue Kai will reportedly step down as CEO, to be replaced by Yudhono Rawis as interim chief. Pang Xue Kai will remain on the company’s board of commissioners. CNBC quotes Pang Xue Kai as saying: "This decision was made after careful consideration and we decided that the …

While some countries like Nigeria are aggressively pushing the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), a new report summarized why a number of private stakeholders are against the idea of a CBDC. The report dubbed “The State of CBDCs in 2022,” published by blockchain insights firm Blockdata, dove into the most significant CBDC developments within the past year. It also pinpointed some of the key reasons why some private companies are against CBDCs. Citing stablecoin issuer Circle’s stance on CBDCs, the report highlighted that digital currency issuance may be better if left to the private sector and were left …

Bank of Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo has announced developments in its plans to launch a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, for “various digital economic and financial transactions.” In a Dec. 5 speech at the central bank’s annual meeting, Warjiyo said the bank planned to release details on the conceptual design of a digital rupiah — a currency the equivalent of the country’s fiat — and open the matter to public comment. According to the governor, the Bank of Indonesia intended for the digital rupiah to be “integrated, interconnected, and interoperable” with other country’s CBDCs following discussions with central bank …

How does one build a Bitcoin (BTC) community? How to start? Where to begin? And what are the best practices? Cointelegraph spoke to Bitcoin community builders around the world to shed light on a growing phenomenon in the Bitcoin world. From Indonesia to South Africa to El Salvador and the Congo, circular-based Bitcoin economies and community projects have sprung up across the globe. Cointelegraph asked the successful community-focused Bitcoiners how to kickstart a Bitcoin circular economy and what advice they’d lend to enthusiasts looking to replicate the success of projects like Bitcoin Beach, El Zonte. For Bitcoin community project leader …

Jerry Sambuaga, the deputy ministry with Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade, has proposed a rule which would require leadership at the country’s crypto exchanges to have more representation from its citizens. In a Tuesday parliamentary meeting which included Indonesian regulatory officials, a letter submitted by Sambuaga suggested several policy changes in response to the “interesting year for the development of physical trading of crypto assets” in the country. Among the proposed rules included a requirement for two-thirds of directors and commissioners at crypto firms to be “Indonesian citizens and domiciled in Indonesia.” A Wednesday report from Bloomberg suggested that the proposed …

The government of Indonesia returned to its plan to set up a digital assets exchange, publicly announced first time back in 2021. A so-called “crypto bourse” is planned to be established by the end of 2022. According to DealStreetAsia, Indonesia’s deputy trade minister Jerry Sambuaga confirmed during the NXC International Summit 2022 in Bali that the country is still planning on the crypto bourse’ launch, while the whole project has been delayed due to additional preparations: “We will make sure that every requirement, procedure and the necessary steps have been taken.” Sambuaga also described some inevitable preparatory tasks ahead of …

Indonesian tech company PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo) bought PT Kripto Maksima Koin, a local crypto exchange, in a bid to diversify its assets. The deal makes a landmark in the merging of mainstream and crypto in the fourth most populated country in the world. As reported by Reuters, the sum of the acquisition of 100% shares by the country’s “biggest tech firm” came to 124.84 billion rupiahs ($8.38 million). The deal was finalized on Aug. 25, according to Indonesian media. GoTo didn’t reveal any specific plans for PT Kripto Maksima Koin’s further development, but in an official statement, …

Indonesian crypto asset platform Pintu announced the closure of a $113 million Series B funding round with participation by four prominent investors: Pantera Capital, Intudo Ventures, Lightspeed and Northstar Group. Licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, or Bappebti, under the Ministry of Trade, Pintu caters to Indonesian crypto investors dealing in popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). Bappepti previously highlighted that the number of Indonesian crypto investors in 2022 doubled from 2021, to which Jeth Soetoyo, founder and CEO of Pintu, said: “We believe that crypto adoption in Indonesia is only in its beginning stages, and …

The number of cryptocurrency owners has massively increased last year, with nearly half of all owners worldwide buying crypto for the first time in 2021, according to a new report. Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has polled about 30,000 respondents in 20 countries between November 2021 and February 2022 to provide a picture of a rapidly expanding crypto ecosystem. The company released the survey findings as part of its “2022 Global State of Crypto” report shared with Cointelegraph on Monday. According to Gemini’s findings, crypto adoption skyrocketed in 2021 in countries like India, Brazil and …