Government Needs to Socialize the Impact of Bitcoin Investments

By : Herry Barus And Aldo Bella Putra | Saturday, December 16 2017 - 21:00 IWST

Ilustrasi Bitcoin (Foto Dok Industry.co.id)

INDUSTRY.co.id - Pekanbaru - Economic observer from Andalas University, Padang, West Sumatera, Prof. Dr. Elfindri said the government and Bank Indonesia (BI) need to intensify the socialization of loss of digital currency investment or "crypto currency" bitcoin.

"Digital currencies such as bitcoin are not guaranteed and are unrecognized investments in Indonesia today and bitcoin is not a legitimate means of payment," Elfindri said when contacted from Pekanbaru on Friday (15/12/2017)

According to him, the rapid development of digital and disruption at this time so that some elements of economic actors use the opportunity to make a profit.

He said the bitcoin resembles an unregulated gambling, because the return is there, and usually the culprit will still exist, looking for opportunities for both the manager and the player.

"Before the rules are resolved, it is better to immediately coordinate with the police for prosecution if there is a case of lured people to invest with the digital currency," he said.

This policy is needed so as not to take too many casualties next BI and the Minister of Finance need to intensively socialize about the risk of investing with digital money, because it is not legal.

Few cases were found, he said, stressing the need to follow up the case so as not to spread further.

He appealed to the public to be more wary of sites on the computer like gambling via the internet.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Bank Indonesia, Agus Martowardojo, reminded the public not to underestimate the risks that may arise from investing using digital currency or "crypto currency" bitcoin.

In addition, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as reported by Antara expects the public does not speculate to invest with digital currency, such as bitcoin, which is now starting ogled as an investment product.

Even the Task Force Investments also remind people not to transact using digital currency because in addition to violating the provisions of the payment system authority, the virtual currency often promises unreasonable yields