Crypto Assets : Between Investment And Regulation.

=> Who has the right to supervise?

Crypto assets are currently much favored by investors, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoincash and so on. But did you know that crypto assets or crypto investments in Indonesia are not supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

=> Who oversees crypto assets in Indonesia?

Based on law number 32 of 1997 concerning commodity futures trading, crypto assets are included in the authority of BAPPEBTI or commodity futures trading supervisory agency, which is a government institution whose main task is to provide guidance, regulation, supervision for commodity futures trading. This institution is under the Ministry of Trade which is led by an echelon one level official.

=> Why under the ministry?

Actually, this practice is not something new, if we still remember that there used to be a BAPEPAM LK institution or capital market supervisory agency and financial institutions. this institution is also under the ministry, namely the ministry of finance, but now it has merged into the OJK so that if we look at the structure of the OJK there is such a thing as a capital market supervisory department.

So, what we see is its function, not its position where the institution is. then what is meant by futures trading? Futures trading is a trade related to the sale and purchase of commodities, where there is a margin withdrawal and with a later settlement based on a futures contract or derivative contract.

OJK and BAPPEBTI have different powers, BAPPEBTI has the authority to supervise commodity futures trading, while OJK supervises the regulation there for the banking sector, capital market, insurance, pension funds and other financial services sectors. BAPPEBTI under the temporary Ministry of OJK is independent based on law number 21 of 2011.

• Where are crypto assets regulated?

In the commodity trading law there is no mention of crypto assets, it is true that crypto assets are not in law number 32 of 1997. Regulations regarding crypto assets in Indonesia were only regulated in 2021, precisely through BAPPEBTI regulation number 8 of 2021. So , the regulations are new and crowded lately because crypto investment in Indonesia is still relatively new.

In this BAPPEBTI Regulation it is stated that crypto assets are intangible commodities in digital form, using cryptography, information networks, and distributed ledgers to regulate the creation of new units, verify transactions and secure transactions without interference from other parties.

With this BAPPEBTI regulation, now buying and selling crypto assets in Indonesia can be done through the physical market for crypto assets on the futures exchange, remember that futures exchanges are not stock exchanges.

So, crypto assets in Indonesia are recognized as intangible commodities that can be traded through the physical market for crypto assets so that the supervision of trading crypto assets is under the authority of BAPPEBTI, not OJK.

Although some say it's better to just go to OJK because crypto investment uses a financial system. but we must adhere to the existing regulations, if later deemed necessary, for example because there is an urgent need. This is what the public has been waiting for, especially legal certainty when problems occur in the futures exchange.

Currently, when we talk about investment, we are not only talking about products but also about market certainty and integrity, including policy actors involved in trading crypto assets. they must maintain their integrity, otherwise it is certain that these crypto assets will not last long and people are reluctant to invest there.

Integration is an important thing in investment itself and that is what the community is waiting for, whether there is a guarantee or not so it is necessary to maintain its integrity so that people want to invest in crypto assets in particular.