Binance reportedly in talks to launch crypto exchange in Indonesia

Published at: Dec. 10, 2021

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is reportedly in talks with Indonesia’s richest family, the Hartonos, to open a crypto exchange. 

As per a report published in Bloomberg, Binance Holdings Ltd. is looking to finalize a crypto venture with billionaire siblings Budi and Michael Hartonos-controlled PT Bank Central Asia (BCA), and Indonesia’s largest state-owned telecom firm PT Telkom Indonesia. 

The report also claimed that the BCA may enter into the partnership using a separate business entity and the terms of the partnership could vary at the time of finalization. If finalized, it would be the second crypto venture for Binance in Indonesia. The first came in the form of a partnership with crypto trading platform Tokocrypto.

A new crypto venture involving the country’s richest family and the largest telecom firm would give Binance a strong foothold in the country with positive crypto regulations. The Indonesian government treats the crypto market as an investment class and allows its trading alongside commodity futures.

BCA didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s requests for comments. Binance declined to comment.

Related: Binance plans to become registered UK firm despite regulatory setbacks

After facing major regulatory challenges in the second and third quarters of 2021, Binance is now looking to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific region. The Singapore arm of the crypto trading giant recently acquired an 18% stake in a local private securities exchange, Hg Exchange. The crypto exchange giant led another $1.5 million funding round for an Asian tokenized messaging platform, the BBS Network.

Apart from new acquisitions and fundings, Binance’s sister company in the United States, Binance.US, is reportedly in the final stages of closing a multi-million funding round. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the global exchange, had revealed in November this year that the firm is expected to raise “a couple hundred million.”

Tags
Related Posts
First Rupiah-Backed Stablecoin Launches on Binance and Tokocrypto
Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Indonesian exchange Tokocrypto have listed a rupiah-backed stablecoin, Binance IDR (BIDR). According to an announcement on June 30, Binance and Tokocrypto users can now trade BIDR against Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Tether (USDT) and Ether (ETH). Users will also be able to directly purchase and redeem the stablecoin at a rate of 1 Indonesian rupiah each ($0.000070). A part of Binance’s expansion plans BIDR is pegged to Indonesia’s fiat currency and runs on Binance Chain. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao claims that this is the first stablecoin pegged to this fiat currency …
Trading / June 30, 2020
Binance-backed Indonesian crypto exchange considers IPO
Jakarta-based crypto exchange Tokocrypto is considering a public market debut over the next two or three years, Nikkei reported on Wednesday. “I’m saying two years because we need to be profitable for at least more than two years before listing. We are already profitable now. Our key focus at Tokocrypto is to grow the business further, expand our operations to more parts of Indonesia and make crypto mainstream in the country,” Tokocrypto CEO Pang Xue Kai said. “Valuation-wise, it is premature to talk about as an IPO is still two to three years down the road, but a close reference …
Bitcoin / June 2, 2021
India’s crypto tax provides little legal clarity for traders and exchanges
Earlier in February, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a tax proposal that would bring the relatively unregulated digital asset space under the purview of tax authorities. The proposal includes a 30% income tax on crypto returns and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) by crypto exchanges on transactions above 10,000 Indian rupees ($133). The announcement came during the parliamentary budget session for 2022, and the government has already set April 1 as a deadline for crypto exchanges to comply with the new tax regulations. The introduction of the crypto tax was widely misreported as a form of legal …
Adoption / Feb. 17, 2022
Indonesia’s cryptocurrency community in 2022: An overview
Crypto is the next big thing in Indonesia. According to the Ministry of Trade, transactions for currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) grew over 14 times from a total of 60 trillion rupiahs ($4.1 billion) in 2020 to a total of 859 trillion rupiahs ($59.83 billion) in 2021. It’s getting to the point where crypto is becoming more popular than traditional stock. Vice Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga stated that more than 11 million Indonesians bought or sold crypto in 2021. In comparison, according to the Indonesian Central Securities Depository, the total number of portfolio investors — indicated by the number of …
Adoption / April 2, 2022
Binance limits services in Russia due to the EU’s 5th package of sanctions
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, is adopting major restrictions on users in Russia following the European Union’s fifth package of sanctions against Russia. Binance officially announced Thursday new limitations for Russian nationals or residents of Russia, restricting such persons from trading if they hold over 10,000 euros, or $10,800. Restricted accounts are no longer able to deposit or trade using Binance’s spot, futures and custody wallets, as well as staked and earned deposits. The restriction relates to Russian nationals, natural persons residing in Russia and legal entities based in Russia, the announcement notes, adding: “Accounts for Russian …
Bitcoin / April 21, 2022