The central bank of Indonesia “Bank Indonesia” plans to issue a regulation prohibiting transactions using Bitcoin. Is this the start of a pushback on liberalised transactions by institutions. A bank official has said that the intended ban would take effect starting next year in 2018.
Onny Widjanarko, who is head of transformation in Bank Indonesia as said that the bank intends to dictate regulation on e-money in the near future. Onny notes that ““Currently, there is no single regulation for those who carry out transactions using Bitcoin.” Fear mongering perhaps? The security breaches in crypto-land are real. He said the central bank was currently carrying out an in-depth study to determine whether the central bank would include a ruling on Bitcoin in the prevailing e-money regulation or in a separate regulation on cryptocurrency.
Onny further discourages merchants from accepting Bitcoin as an official payment instrument as the bank will not be responsible for any losses incurred through transactions. More fear mongering. And to top it all off, Onny says that Bitcoin could potentially be used to violate prevailing regulations on terrorism, money laundering, prostitution and drug trafficking.
Yes, these are real problems. Indonesia's problem is that it doesn't have the analytics capability to inspect the transparent transactions in crypto-land. I also encourages everyone to use the non-transparent banking networks which probably facilitate significantly more dangerous transactions.
Crypto is not going away, and chances are there will be a bi-modal economy. Banksters and Non-Banksters. Countries hold different stances on Bitcoin, with China and Russia rejecting it while Japan accepts it as a payment instrument. Indonesia will either join the regressive economies or liberal economies.
Bitcoin transactions are made with neither middle men nor banks. There are minimal transaction fees and transactions can be made "anonymously". However transactions are transparent, and if you are able to analyse them, the veil of anonymity disappears.
There is a real danger for governments and its economies that may suffer revenue loss as a result of the diversion of economic transactions away from centralised control. The government simply needs to find a new ways to the crypto-economy to support government services. Some governments plan to issue its own coins and exchanges.
In summary, it appears that Bitcoin transactions are impacting the central banks revenues. Any central bank would be up in arms if their lavish lunches were being eaten. Whether or not the banks have the authority or the ability to regulate non-banking transactions is yet to be seen. As crypto transactions become the norm and viral, the banks might actually have to facilitate the new realities instead of fighting it. The age of transparency and accountability is upon us.
Read more:
https://www.cryptiq.xyz/2017/12/06/indonesia-plans-to-ban-bitcoin/