Indonesia's Largest Bitcoin Exchange Now Caters to 1.7 Million Registered Traders
Jakarta. Indonesia's largest cryptocurrency exchange, the Indonesia Digital Asset Exchange, or Indodax, has over 1.7 million registered members to date and processes more than Rp 100 billion, or $7 million, worth of transactions every day, reflecting a robust interest in the trade of the digital asset.
The exchange went past the one million-member mark in February last year during a steep fall in the price of bitcoin, the world's first and most popular cryptocurrency.
Indonesians have since become increasingly enamored by cryptocurrency, so much so that Indodax has now moved to a larger head office at the Millennial Centennial Center building in South Jakarta.
"People can come for consultations or seminar classes here. We want to educate people about digital assets and the importance of blockchain technology," Indodax chief executive Oscar Darmawan said on Wednesday.
For an exchange that had just opened up shop in 2014, the number of registered members that Indodax has attracted is remarkable. In comparison, the Indonesia Stock Exchange now has 1.9 million investors.
Indodax also has branch offices in Bali, Semarang in Central Java and Surabaya in East Java.
"The Indodax journey has not been easy. In the beginning, people were skeptical of us as an investment company," Oscar said.
The Indonesian government has proved to be accommodating to cryptocurrency trading. While Bank Indonesia, the central bank, and the Financial Services Authority bar the use of cryptocurrency as payment, they recognize it as a digital asset that can be traded among investors.
"As a technological company, we continue to innovate under the rules set by the government," Oscar said.