Indonesia Wants Citizens to Steer Local Crypto Exchanges: Report

Regulators in Indonesia are introducing a new rule requiring domestic cryptocurrency exchanges to be mostly led by its citizens, according to a Bloomberg report.

• The new rule would require at least two-thirds of directors and commissioners on crypto trading platforms to be Indonesians residing in the country, officials from the country's trade ministry and commodity futures trading regulatory agency said at a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta.
• “That way, at least we can stop them from fleeing the country if any problem arises,” said the agency’s acting head Didid Noordiatmoko, according to the report.
• Noordiatmoko didn’t say when the revised regulation would be issued, but revisions are to be made to Indonesia's existing guidelines for operating crypto exchanges.
• The regulator's comments closely follow a South Korean effort to launch a worldwide search operation for Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon by asking Interpol to issue a 'Red-Notice' for him. Four months after the $40 billion Terra ecosystem collapsed, authorities in South Korea issued an arrest warrant for South Korean native Kwon on charges of fraud. Kwon has since tweeted that he is not on the run.
• Additional revisions to the rules include gradually doubling the minimum capital requirement for crypto exchanges to 100 billion rupiah ($6.7 million) in line with their growth, banning exchanges from reinvesting crypto assets, and storing users' money in third-party bank accounts, according to Indonesia's Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga.

Read More: Indonesia to Establish ‘Crypto Stock’ Exchange by 2022-End: Report