Indonesia Delays Crypto-Stock Exchange Launch Again, This Time Until June: Report

Indonesia has delayed the rollout of a stock exchange for digital asset companies to later this year, CoinDesk Indonesia reported on Friday.

Zulkifli Hasan, Indonesia's minister for trade, said on Thursday he plans to launch the exchange before June 2023, but isn't going to "rush" it if it's not ready, according to the report. The government had initially planned to launch the platform by the end of 2021, but subsequently delayed it to the end of last year.

Creating a bourse that lists approved digital asset companies with the aim of protecting consumers "needs many preparations," Indonesia's Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga said in September.

Indonesia has emerged as a fast crypto adopter in the region with online speculative trading driving use, but the mounting delays indicate the government may have undertaken a mammoth task of setting up a "crypto stock" exchange.

The country also recently approved a new financial regulations framework that transfers crypto supervision responsibilities from the commodities regulator to the Financial Services Authority, OJK, which could complicate the way crypto assets are classified under local rules. The commodities regulator paused the approval of crypto businesses in August ahead of the regulatory transition.

Read more: Indonesia Regulatory Switch Could See Crypto Classed as Securities, Not Commodities