Indonesia’s Crypto Transactions Skyrocket to $1.92 Billion in February

cryptonews.com:

Indonesia has witnessed an impressive surge in cryptocurrency transactions, with the total reaching IDR 30 trillion ($1.92 billion) in February, according to the country’s crypto regulator. 

The Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti)  reported that the number of registered crypto investors  in the country also experienced substantial growth, reaching 19 million last month, with an increase of 170,000 users compared to January.

The remarkable rise in crypto transactions can be attributed to positive market sentiments fueled by the surge in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price and the rally in altcoins, which refers to tokens other than Bitcoin. 

The regulator said that Indonesia could match or surpass the transaction volume achieved during the 2021 bull run, which amounted to $51.28 billion. 

Tirta Karma Senjaya, a representative from Bappebti, said that a rebound in 2024 is anticipated, considering the downward trend observed in 2022 and 2023. 

The upcoming Bitcoin halving is seen as a key catalyst for this expected resurgence.

To achieve the target of increased crypto transactions, Bappebti believes that reducing or eliminating taxes on cryptocurrencies would be a favorable approach. 

Currently, crypto transactions are subject to a 0.10% tax for Income Tax and a 0.11% tax for Value Added Tax (VAT) on users, while exchanges face a 0.02% tax per transaction for the crypto bourse, depository, and clearing house.

“I’ve previously said that this industry (crypto) is still in its embryonic stage, so imposing heavy taxes might kill the industry,” Tirta said during a recent Reku exchange event.

Furthermore, the transfer of crypto oversight to the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in January 2025 is expected to bring