1. Introduction
    On 10 December 2024, the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or “OJK”) issued OJK Regulation No. 27 of 2024 on the Organization of Digital Financial Asset Trading, Including Crypto Assets (“OJK Reg 27/2024”). This regulation is a follow-up to the mandate stipulated in Law No. 4 of 2023 on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (“Law 4/2023”) and Government Regulation No. 49 of 2024 on the Transfer of Regulatory and Supervisory Duties for Digital Financial Assets, Including Crypto Assets and Financial Derivatives (“GR 49/2024”).

    According to Article 3 of GR 49/2024, as of 10 January 2025 the same date OJK Reg 27/2024 comes into force OJK will assume authority over the regulation and supervision of Crypto Asset trading in Indonesia, which was previously under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (“Bappebti”).

    With the enactment of OJK Reg 27/2024, the regulatory framework for Crypto Asset trading issued by Bappebti, namely Bappebti Regulation No. 8 of 2021 on Guidelines for the Organization of Physical Crypto Asset Trading on Futures Exchanges, as amended multiple times, most recently by Bappebti Regulation No. 9 of 2024 (“Bappebti Reg 8/2021”), will no longer be in effect.

    One of the key changes in OJK Reg 27/2024 lies in the scope of regulated objects. Before the transfer of authority, Bappebti, through Bappebti Reg 8/2021, regulated only the trading of Crypto Assets. In contrast, OJK Reg 27/2024 expands the scope by establishing two distinct categories, namely “Digital Financial Asset” and “Crypto Asset”.

    A more detailed elaboration on the expanded scope of regulation and other changes included in OJK Reg 27/2024 will be provided in the discussion section.

  2. Discussion
    1. Criteria for Tradable Crypto Assets
      As previously mentioned, OJK Reg 27/2024 expands the scope of regulated objects into two categories: Digital Financial Assets and Crypto Assets. Although these two have distinct definitions, they are not entirely different. Referring to Article 1 number 5 of OJK Reg 27/2024, Digital Financial Assets are defined as “financial assets that are stored or represented digitally, including crypto assets.” This broad definition, when considered alongside other provisions, is intentionally designed to anticipate the emergence of other digital assets in the future that may not be entirely identical to Crypto Assets.1Since Crypto Assets fall within the broader category of Digital Financial Assets, a Crypto Asset must first and foremost, meet the qualifications for Digital Financial Asset, which are:

      1. Issued, stored, transferred, and/or traded using distributed ledger (blockchain) technology;
      2. Not an asset issued or recorded by financial institutions in electronic form;
        Bank account balances, share ownership in a public company, and bonds are examples of financial institutions’ electronically issued/recorded asset classes.2
      3. Originating from and/or utilized in activities that comply with the law;
      4. Other criteria determined by the OJK.

      In addition to meeting the general requirements for Digital Financial Assets mentioned above, Crypto Assets must also fulfill specific criteria applicable to Crypto Assets themselves, namely:

      1. Being a primary digital representation of value;
        Referring to the Elucidation of Article 8 of OJK Reg 27/2024, “primary digital representation of value” means an asset that does not require ownership verification and reconciliation with other recording systems.
        Specifically, the Elucidation cites Bitcoin as an example of a “primary digital representation of value” because all Bitcoin transaction histories are verified and recorded within the Bitcoin blockchain itself, without involving any other verification and/or recording system.
      2. Using publicly accessible distributed ledger technology (blockchain);
      3. Having utility and/or being backed by assets;
        There is no detailed description of what kind of utility a Crypto Asset must have, as the Elucidation of Article 8 of OJK Reg 27/2024 defines “utility” simply as “the benefits of a Crypto Assets for its owner.” However, if “utility” refers to the type of utility found in “utility token” Crypto Assets that grant holders access to specific services or features within a blockchain ecosystem3 then meme coins, which have no real benefits other than experiencing extreme price surges and crashes in a short period, shall not be able to be traded in Indonesia.
      4. Being traceable and not having features that obscure or hide ownership and transaction data;
        Subject to this provision, tokens with “untraceable transaction” features, such as Monero (XMR)4 and ZCash (ZEC)5, shall not be able to be traded in Indonesia.
      5. Having undergone an assessment using methods stipulated by Exchange regulations and rules.

      To provide clear guidelines on which Crypto Assets are available for trade in Indonesia, OJK Reg 27/2024 mandates the Exchange to create a Crypto Assets List—a list specifying the types of Crypto Assets permitted for trading in Indonesia (commonly known as the “whitelist”). However, since OJK Reg 27/2024 just came into effect on 10 January 2025, the whitelist in effect is the one established by Bappebti through Bappebti Regulation No. 1 of 2025, which is the third amendment to Bappebti Regulation No. 11 of 2022 on the Determination of the List of Crypto Assets Traded in the Physical Market of Crypto Assets (“Bappebti Reg 1/2025”).

      OJK Reg 27/2024 explicitly states that the Exchange must establish a Crypto Assets List within three months of its enactment.6 Therefore, investors should remain aware of potential changes to the whitelist in March or April 2025.

    2. Provisions on Directors and Commissioners of the Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading
      OJK Reg 27/2024 refers to market organizers collectively as Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading, consisting (1) the Exchange, (2) the Clearing, Guarantee, and Settlement Institution (“Clearing House”), (3) Depository Manager and (4) Dealer. The essential change regarding these Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading, compared to the provisions in Bappebti Reg 8/2021, is the application of provisions on the number of members of the Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners, as well as the obligation of the Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading to obtain OJK approval for candidates of Directors and Commissioners.The requirements regarding the number of Directors and Commissioners for each Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading are stipulated in Articles 24, 32, 39, and 49 of OJK Reg 27/2024. These articles primarily regulate the following:

      1. Exchange
        • Minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 Directors
        • Minimum of 2 Commissioners and a maximum equal to the number of Directors
      2. Clearing House
        • Minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 Directors
        • Minimum of 2 Commissioners and a maximum equal to the number of Directors
      3. Depository Manager
        • Minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 Directors
        • Minimum of 1 Commissioner and a maximum equal to the number of Directors
      4. Dealers
        • Minimum of 3 Directors, with the requirement that the majority of Directors, including the President Director, must be Indonesian citizens
        • Minimum of 1 Commissioner and a maximum equal to the number of Directors

      Once suitable candidates for the positions of Directors and Commissioners have been identified, Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading must submit these candidates to OJK for approval before their appointment in the General Meeting of Shareholders (RUPS).

    3. Licensing
      There are several licensing provisions in OJK Reg 27/2024 that worth attention, among others:

      1. Streamlined Licensing Process for Dealer
        OJK implements a single-stage licensing process for companies seeking to facilitate crypto asset trading, which is the license as a Digital Financial Assets Dealer. This differs from Bappebti, which applied a two-stage licensing system, namely licensing as a Prospective Physical Crypto Assets Dealer and licensing as a Physical Crypto Assets Dealer.This two-stage licensing system was implemented during Bappebti’s regulatory period because Indonesia’s Crypto Assets trading ecosystem was still in its early stages. At the time, there were no officially designated Exchanges and Clearing House, while many companies were already engaged in facilitating Crypto Assets trading. Therefore, Bappebti mandated that before the appointment of an official Exchange and Clearing House, companies facilitating crypto asset trading were required to register as Prospective Physical Crypto Asset Dealers, and once the Exchange and Clearing House were established, they had to register as Physical Crypto Asset Dealers.
        However, these crucial roles have now been filled: the Exchange role is carried out by PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara (now PT Central Financial X or “PT CFX”), the Clearing House role is fulfilled by PT Kliring Berjangka Indonesia (“PT KBI”), and the Depository Manager role is handled by PT Tennet Depository Indonesia (“PT TDI”).7 Therefore, OJK no longer applies the “prospective” system in the licensing process for Dealers.
      2. Validity of Bappebti-Issued Licenses
        The transitional provision of OJK Reg 27/2024, particularly Article 134, states that any parties who have registered with, been designated by, and/or obtained licenses from Bappebti whether as an Exchange, Clearing House, Depository Manager, or Dealer shall be deemed to have obtained the licenses required under OJK Reg 27/2024.
    4. Prohibition on Trading Self-Issued and/or Affiliate-Issued Crypto Assets
      Among the various prohibitions and restrictions set forth in OJK Reg 27/2024, one particular prohibition warrants attention the ban on trading crypto assets that are self-issued and/or issued by affiliates. This prohibition, stated in Article 52 paragraph (1) of OJK Reg 27/2024, has, in fact, been in force since Bappebti was still overseeing crypto asset trading. This is evidenced by the provision in Article 42 paragraph (6) of Bappebti Reg 8/2021, which was later “moved” to Article 16 paragraph (6) in the first amendment to Bappebti Reg No. 8/2021, Bappebti Regulation 13 of 2022.Despite being regulated for a long time, as of the date of this writing, several major Dealers in Indonesia continue to trade tokens issued by themselves or their affiliates. This clearly raises a major question why has this practice persisted for so long? Furthermore, in relation to investor protection, how will OJK enforce this regulation?

      It is important to understand that crypto assets issued by Dealers, commonly referred to as “exchange tokens”, derive their value from the benefits and/or certain privileges they provide when used within the Dealer’s trading platform. To put this into perspective, let’s create a scenario using a crypto trading platform based outside Indonesia Binance.

      Binance has its own self-issued crypto asset, BNB. The primary utility of BNB is to grant privileges to its holders, such as trading fee discounts and the right to participate in Crypto Assets launches (token launches) on the Binance trading platform.8 Now, imagine what would happen to the price of BNB if one day Binance stopped trading it.

      Even though BNB can still be traded on other platforms, its core value lies in its utilities within the Binance platform. Losing these utilities would undoubtedly have a negative impact on its price. Moreover, even if all of BNB’s utilities on the Binance trading platform can still be exercised and only its trading on Binance is banned, the impact would still be unfavorable. In such a scenario, investors would have to buy BNB from other platforms and then transfer it to their Binance wallet, making the process highly inefficient, thereby attracting fewer investors to buy BNB or, even worse, triggering panic sell of BNB.

      The scenario above is highly likely to occur with Crypto Assets issued by Dealers if the prohibition in Article 52 paragraph (1) of OJK Reg 27/2024 is enforced without careful coordination among stakeholders such as OJK, the Dealer issuing the Crypto Asset, other Dealers that are also trading the related Crypto Asset, the Exchange, Clearing House, and Depository Manager.

  3. Closing
    OJK Reg 27/2024 expands the scope of regulatory objects into two categories: Digital Financial Assets and Crypto Assets. The addition of Digital Financial Assets as a category aims to anticipate the emergence of other types of digital assets in the future that may have different characteristics from Crypto Assets.

    Regarding Crypto Asset trading, both in terms of the requirements for tradable Crypto Assets and the Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading, there are not many changes compared to Bappebti Reg 8/2021. The most significant difference lies in the obligation for Organizers of Digital Financial Assets Trading to obtain OJK approval for their candidates for Directors and Commissioners, as well as the requirement to meet the specified number of Directors and Commissioners in accordance with OJK Reg 27/2024.

    Furthermore, another change is seen in the licensing process for Crypto Asset Dealers, which has now been simplified into a single stage, namely licensing as a Digital Financial Asset Dealer. This simplification indicates that the “prospective” system, previously applied by Bappebti, will no longer be used.

    However, despite these positive regulatory developments, there is a longstanding provision that remain unenforced. Although the prohibition on Dealers from trading self-issued Crypto Assets has existed since Bappebti still held authority over Crypto Asset trading, it has yet to be implemented. To ensure effective law enforcement that does not harm investors, close coordination among stakeholders is necessary to enforce this prohibition.

Ian Reinhart Hamonangan

Sources

  1. See Article 4 and Elucidation of Article 4 of OJK Reg 27/2024
  2. Elucidation of Article 4 of OJK Reg 27/2024
  3. https://academy.binance.com/en/glossary/utility-token
  4. https://www.getmonero.org/get-started/what-is-monero/
  5. https://z.cash/learn/is-zcash-traceable/
  6. Article 132 letter b of OJK Reg 27/2024
  7. Kementerian Perdagangan RI. “Bappebti Tetapkan Bursa, Kliring, dan Pengelola Penyimpanan Kripto”. https://www.kemendag.go.id/berita/pojok-media/bappebti-tetapkan-bursa-kliring-dan-pengelola-penyimpanan-kripto. Accessed on 15 February 2025
  8. https://www.binance.com/en/bnb