BI Threatens Hard Sanctions of Bitcoin Transaction Institute

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Bank Indonesia threatens to impose harsh sanctions on payment system providers (PJSP) including banks that serve transactions using Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

"We affirm we will call and we are sanctioning hard There are four regulations in Indonesia that prohibit digital currency," said Executive Director of Policy and Supervision of BI Payment System Eni V. Panggabean in Jakarta, Monday (15/1/2018)

The payment system authority attitude emerged after the transaction of digital currency (cryptocurrency) growing in Indonesia, such as Bitcoin value which has jumped 164 times to Rp214, 4 million since April 2013 until January 2018.

The Central Bank also reminded the transaction and Bitcoin could not be cashed through the payment system service company.

Eni claims the ban on Bitcoin transactions and other digital currencies issued since 2014 is effective.

Until now, according to him, BI has not found a payment system company that serves the transaction of digital currency.

But with the rapid development of digital currencies around the world, Eni said people need to be more careful and not tempted by the lure of digital currency value.

"The characteristic of digital currency is no regulator, pseudonymous, its user name is also disguised so it is vulnerable to be used as a crime, besides there is no central authority regulating," he said as quoted by Antara.

Digital currency with the largest market share is Bitcoin with a contribution of 33 percent or if it is capitalized at 246 billion US dollars. In total, according to Coinmarketcap, there are 1,400 digital currencies currently in the world, with the largest being Bitcoin and Etherum.

Digital currency transactions with excessive demand value can create a bubble that is harmful to financial system stability.

In addition to being harmful to stability, digital currency transactions are also harmful to consumer protection, the stability of the payment system and prone to use as a mode of crime such as terrorism and money laundering.

Head of BI Transformation Program Center Onny Widjanarko said BI will coordinate with the Financial Services Authority, Bappebti and other agencies to issue a common attitude regarding the use of digital currency in Indonesia.

The use of digital currency in Indonesia is contained in three concepts, namely payment system, wallet or wallet, exchange and mining.

BI regulates in the payment system, preventing the impact of its use on the stability of the financial system as well as consumer protection.

"BI in the payment system we are continuing to coordinate with related agencies, such as OJK, to trade with Bappebti. Whether there is a sanction if the digital currency is used as a commodity, it is not in BI, but we are coordinating Maybe in BI in the commodity sector there is no authority but cautioned that it should not be traded because of the risks it had for the stability of the financial system and society," said Onny.