Earlier this week, Coinone, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it will expand its operations in Indonesia in May. This move shows that Indonesia's potential as a center for financial technology development and innovation is increasing, and it is particularly promising in the new applications of blockchain technology.
Similar to the situation in other places, Indonesia's interest in the blockchain stems from the excitement caused by cryptocurrencies. Although the future of digital currency is still unclear in many respects, blockchain is now seen as a potential disruptor in many industries—not just financial services. Indonesia's blockchain leaders are eager to seize this opportunity brought about by technology.
"In the past 18 months, there has been a surge of interest in this - initially caused by cryptocurrency, but recently it has become an interest in practical technology applications," said Pandu Sastrowardoyo, chairman of the board of the Blockchain Zoo.
She attributed some of this interest to the recent comments by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Indonesian Central Bank on the use of the blockchain in banks. In January, OJK prohibited banks from selling cryptocurrencies, but expressed support for the development of a new fintech platform. Last month, the Blockchain Zoo and several other companies formed Asossiasi Blockchain Indonesia, the country's first industry association of its kind.
Steven Suhadi is chairman and co-founder of the Association of Blockchain Space Asia, which operates blockchains in Southeast Asia. He said that the emergence of the association stems from the need for active cooperation and reliable information involving this technology. Suhadi said: “There is a lot of information that can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and may hinder the development of this ecosystem.” Asosiasi Blockchain Indonesia aims to promote an active dialogue between companies and decision-makers to prevent any slowdown in this area.
To further understand the opportunities in this area, I consulted with Sastrowardoyo, Suhadi, and their peers about the future and what areas need attention in Indonesia. The following are the results of their predictions:
Government management
Sastrowardoyo said: "I am very happy to see that blockchain disrupts the way government operates, especially in Indonesia." " Blockchain technology strengthens government service-level agreements, reduces waste and corruption ."
She added that the technology also makes sense for the geographical and political composition of Indonesia. "Indonesia has an amazing and unique problem that stems from its geographical structure - we have tens of thousands of islands, more than 30 provinces, thousands of regions - we can't agree on anything," she said, "this It will waste resources such as time and money, and reduce our competitiveness. It can be said that the blockchain helps us lose weight – removing the vast majority of unofficial middlemen and officials who waste time, so that we can Competing in the international market. "
Suhadi said that blockchains can also be useful in recording and protecting land ownership, and Sweden and India are exploring this concept.
supply chain
Suhadi said that supply chain management will benefit from the application of blockchain technology in processing, financing, and verifying the origin and authenticity of goods . He uses Eximchain as an example -- this is a company that has already entered the field. Hope Liu, CEO of Eximchain, told me last month that her company uses blockchain to improve the privacy, scalability, and security of the supply chain industry.
Constantin Papadimitriou, president of Pundi X, also pointed out the potential in this area. "The blockchain contains validated evidence of the transaction and then builds trust through a collective billing solution to ensure transparency. By fully disclosing the cargo information, the goods are tracked so that they are automatically processed and assembled."
Pundi X's business is to promote better-informed consumer transactions through a blockchain-based point of sale (POS) system. Therefore, it is strange that Papadimitriou can see real potential in this area.
"What the Pundi X has to do is to solve the fundamental problems that currently exist in digital and blockchain transactions: how to make it easier for mainstream consumers to get started ." Papadimitriou said.
He believes that digital currency has not yet been accepted by the mainstream crowd. The process of managing private keys and public keys, different blockchain concepts, and different regional supervisory standards will all generate excessive barriers to entry. He also said that most people do not think that digital currency is closely related to their lives.
He said: "After ordinary users can use digital money to buy water or a bag of rice, blockchain trading is still limited to a small number of users." Pundi X tries to simplify the buying process, and make it faster and more cost-effective. Lower the threshold for blockchain transactions.
Data Security
Sastrowardoyo believes that blockchain returns power and control to every user, enabling them to determine how their data is used and shared with them. She said: “The Cambridge Analytica incident tells us that we cannot currently own our own data because who owns the server and who owns the centralized system,” she said. "The blockchain allows you to really own your data - even if the blockchain is built on a server that some organizations control, they won't be able to access any of your data unless you allow them access. So, I predict the identity The identification application will become the customer's next 'killer application' ."
Blockchain is anyone's game
Of course, these are only a small part of the (blockchain) innovation potential. Respondents also mentioned P2P loans, e-commerce, travel, data integrity, and mobile wallet security. Everyone believes that increasing interest in blockchain and distributed ledger technology will promote more cooperation between technology entrepreneurs, companies and decision makers.
Blockchain technology, like its applications, is still in its early stages - from Suhadi's point of view, this makes the blockchain a game that anyone can seize . "The most bovine blockchain solution may also have been born in Indonesia. It is not unreasonable to think so," he said.
The Philharmonic Bullet Review: Indonesia has been developing rapidly in recent years. Now, it has once again focused on the “blockchain” ethos. Its potential is indeed not to be underestimated. In fact, no matter in which country or region, the four aspects mentioned in this article can see the huge potential of blockchain spoils.