Bitcoin and digital currency (cryptocurrency) are increasingly popular in Indonesia. Even in May, the exchange rate of one chip of BitCoin is equivalent to 20 million rupiah.
However, not a few people question the future of digital currency, especially related to price fluctuations and security of transactions.
In response, CEO of Bitcoin Indonesia, Oscar Dermawan stated that cryptocurrency is a remarkable technological achievement. Previously, similar opinion was also expressed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Oscar revealed there are several reasons that make the digital currency is different from the conventional version. One reason, because BitCoin and other digital currencies take advantage of a system that runs independently of a centralized server. The entire server is decentralized and all transactions are verified automatically without human intervention.
This decentralization system also locks the supply of BitCoin in a certain amount, can not increase more than that specified.
"The workings of this system are even commented on by Bill Gates as" BitCoins is a technological tour de force "which means as a remarkable technological achievement.As long as there is only 1 user, BitCoin users on the internet then bitcoin network will not go down because of the nature decentralized servers, "he explained in an e-mail message to CNNIndonesia.com.
Meanwhile, BitCoin circulation around the world is recorded by a blockchain algorithm that allows each user to monitor or see the total supply of circulating BitCoins and transactions in their digital network in a transparent manner.
"Because the server is decentralized (not centralized) so no one can cheat / change transaction data," he continued.
Due to rapid growth in some developed countries such as Japan, European and US countries, the bitcoin industry is currently overseen by the FSA (Financial Services Agency), a similar body of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in Indonesia. The opposite is true in Indonesia.
Transactions in Indonesia are still very low compared to BitCoin transactions in the world, probably not yet 5 percent. Especially when compared with the volume of BitCoin transactions in Japan, South Korea and China, "said Oscar when asked about the condition of exchange of BitCoin in the country.
As a form of investment, unfortunately the BitCoin price is unpredictable to rise or fall within a certain period of time. Oscar said that the currency exchange rate is always moving following the market.
"I do not think anyone can predict the exact price of BitCoin because it all depends on market conditions, we'll see how the market decides where bitcoin prices will move until the end of 2017," he said.
But as is known, five years ago the price of BitCoin only 120ribu rupiah. In 2017 BitCoin set a record high of 2,000 US dollars (about 26.6 million rupiah). Currently, bitcoin.co.id sells a bitcoin worth 50.6 million rupiah.
In addition to BitCoin, the popularity of digital currencies such as Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin also began to undermine market share. BitCoin Transactions are getting bigger and slower transactions are referred to as the reason for the growing demand for other digital currencies.