Exchanges all over Indonesia got the go-ahead to deal with cryptocurrencies on Sunday as the Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti) announced that they could be listed as commodities and traded as such.
“Currently, the Head of Bappebti has signed as decision to make cryptocurrencies a commodity that could be traded on exchanges, but I don’t remember the number of the Decree,” said Dharma Yoga, head of market supervision and development at Bappebti.
The market moved quickly and Indonesia has already seen its largest exchange list TRX and another company place cryptocurrency exchange ATMs around the country.
Yoga added that cryptocurrency exchanges in the island nation could expect to be subjected to some regulations due to the status of digital coins. According to him, this will also include wallets and companies that specialize in mining.
The new regulations will be drafted in collaboration with the Bank of Indonesia and the Financial Services Authority.
The government also wants input on specific trade procedures and mechanisms from the largest exchanges in Indonesia, such as Indodax, and key members of the country’s cryptocurrency community.
Any further regulations on the exchange ecosystem may include anti-money laundering and terrorism financing provisions that are meant to prevent criminal activity from entering their platforms. This, according to Yoga, will involve collaboration with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.
Much like other Islamic nations, Indonesia has a somewhat positive relationship with cryptocurrencies, with a finance group inside of the country even declaring Bitcoin halal—a concept in Islam that means that a particular activity is expressly permitted under the religion.
Not all religious scholars agree, however. Both the Egyptian Grand Mufti and the Turkish Diyanet have declared that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are religiously forbidden, one of them even defending the position because cryptocurrency, “can be easily used in illegal activities.”