Indonesia started using a digital currency known as bitcoin as a payment solution for online transactions, as well as for receiving and sending money, although bitcoin has its flaws. One of the problems is the price of the cryptocurrency which is very volatile. Anxiety about cyber attacks against software that holds bitcoin also leads to the question of whether bitcoin is a safe way to save money.
Yet more and more Indonesians are now ignoring criticism over Bitcoin and are beginning to take advantage of the advantages offered by this technology. Many citizens have no bank or credit card account, while money transfers are subject to high transaction fees.
Most bitcoin users in Indonesia are now using it to pay for services on the Internet, such as web hosting. This digital currency can also be used to book hotel rooms via international sites. Bitcoin is seen as more effective than credit cards. "Many people think Bitcoin is unheard of in Indonesia, but the fact is bitcoin is now popular," said Oscar Darmawan, CEO of PT BitCoin Indonesia, which operates a bitcoin exchange site called Bitcoin.co.id.
Bank Indonesia has said bitcoin is not the official currency and has warned its users will bear its own risks. Nevertheless, some start-ups offer bitcoin services in Southeast Asia's largest economy to take advantage of this trend. Here are three of them.
Bitcoin.co.id
Established since 2013, the Bitcoin.co.id website allows its users to sell or buy bitcoin. The trading volume on this site is about 200 bitcoins per day, well below the Singapore-based iTBit competitor handling 2,000 bitcoin transactions daily from Singapore and the United States. But Oscar said the site's rapid development: the number of registered users rose seven-fold from a year ago, from 8,000 to 56,000 current users.
The site also provides information on the latest bitcoin valuation (each market has its own index), daily highs and lows, trading volume, and market capitulation. Oscar said bitcoin.co.id earned revenue by charging a rate of 0.3% for bitcoin buyers. There is no fee for bitcoin sellers on this site.
Blossom
Blossom is a two-month-old start-up from Silicon Valley and focuses on microfinance for small businesses in Indonesia. These start-ups operate on the basis of Islamic or Shari'a principles. The small business it supports can not sell illicit products such as alcohol or pornography.
Blossom collects money from world investors, turns it into bitcoin, and uses it to transfer money to microfinance institutions in Indonesia or microfinance units in national banks. The money will then be lent to a small Sharia-based business.
In the system, bitcoin is used as a "money sender and cash transparency," says Matthew founder and CEO Joseph Martin. Bitcoin helps reduce the time and money spent to send money to small businesses in need. Adhering to the profit-sharing model of Shariah-based financing, Blossom withdrew 20% of all profits granted. Some are distributed back to the investors every month.
Quoine
Head quartered in Singapore, where the bitcoin is hoping to take advantage of opportunities from the growing e-commerce market in Indonesia. One of the challenges facing e-commerce in Indonesia is the lack of payment options, which are currently dominated by bank transfers and payments after goods are delivered or cash on delivery.
Some sites are starting to offer bitcoin as a payment solution. Quoine CEO Mario Gomez Lozada said this indicates that market interest in the rupiah-bitcoin exchange is growing. Some Indonesian sites that now receive bitcoin payments include Host Republican domain providers, a place for sale and purchase of digital products Flatten, and Tokobitcoin.com, where users can purchase tools and electric tokens by transferring bitcoins from "purses" to merchant wallets. A trader can then exchange bitcoin with rupiah.
For now, users in Indonesia are not very active in trading in Quoine, and in terms of Singapore's valuation is superior, said Lozada. However, since Quoine was launched in Indonesia in November, Indonesia has rapidly contributed the largest number of registered users from all quoine market markets. Besides Indonesia, Quoine service is available in Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Reference: source
