Jakarta. Indonesia took a significant step in tapping into the potential of the digital economy by launching its first crypto asset bourse on Friday. 

The Trade Ministry's Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) has granted a permit to Commodity Futures Exchange (CFX) to manage the crypto asset bourse.

Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the crypto bourse’s existence is inevitable because the rapidly growing digital asset market must be properly regulated to ensure a fair and beneficial business among legitimate players.

To harness the potential growth of the digital economy, establishing a regulated and secure crypto asset bourse is crucial, he added.

“Without a sound regulatory regime in place, the industry will only invite illegal players who do harm to the people. Public confidence will erode if there are so many illegal crypto businesses here and they will choose to invest in foreign countries,” Zulkifli said during the launch event in Jakarta.

Indonesia's digital economy is projected to reach a value of $146 billion by 2025, making it the largest in Southeast Asia, the minister said. This estimation aligns with the country's significant number of internet users.

Bappebti Head Didid Noordiatmoko claimed the government has issued a set of regulations on crypto trading and the newly-launched bourse is now ready to open membership.

“Today is the launching date to be followed by discussions on registration procedures before we move to technical issues like fees or other things that will be decided in business-to-business negotiations," Didid said.

The crypto asset bourse is expected to attract around 30 crypto asset companies within the first month of its launch. 

The number of Indonesian crypto asset users has already reached 17.54 million as of June, with an average of 490,000 new users joining every month.