The East Java branch of one of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisations Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has issued a Fatwa deeming the use of cryptocurrency ‘haram’, or forbidden, under Islamic law. A Fatwa is a nonbinding legal opinion on Islamic law, which is reached through a discussion called a bahtsul masail. Representatives from the Nahdlatul Ulama (PCNU) Branch Management and several Islamic boarding schools throughout East Java attended the bahtsul masail. Interest in cryptocurrency has surged in Indonesia over the past year. Earlier this month, a report by Coinformant reported that Indonesia saw a massive 1,772% increase in the number of people …

Amid the ongoing growth in cryptocurrency adoption worldwide, countries like Indonesia and Chile have seen a significant influx of public interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), according to new data. According to a Friday report by Australian blockchain education startup Coinformant, Indonesia has been leading the world in crypto interest in 2021. In Coinformant’s report, Indonesia achieved the highest crypto interest score with 5.73 out of 10, beating other counties in a combination of four factors including the number of Google searches, the number of published crypto articles, engagement level increases and crypto ownership. Chile ranked second with a score …

Pintu, Indonesia’s first mobile native cryptocurrency wallet and trading platform, has raised $35 million from some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds — putting the company on track to expand its team and product offerings in the near future. The Series A was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, a technology-focused investor with broad exposure to blockchain, fintech and data analytics. Several other high-profile venture funds also participated in the raise, including Alameda Ventures, Blockchain.com, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Castle Island Ventures and Intudo Ventures. With the funds, Pintu plans to hire additional talent, roll out new product offerings and fuel future …

Asia-Pacific crypto-fiat trading platform Zipmex has forged a strategic partnership with Visa in a bid to improve the convenience of its payment programs and products. The platform's payment network ZipSend, designed to enable users to spend their crypto, will be integrated into Visa’s worldwide network of 70 million merchants. Following the partnership, Zipmex aims to release a Visa-branded payment card later this year. Zipmex, which has compliant operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia, currently has a user base of over 200,000 and has reported over $1 billion in gross transaction volume since its launch in late 2019. The company …

New use cases for nonfungible tokens are continually emerging. Now, one project is combining NFTs with real estate — delivering fractional property ownership. LABS Group says it is establishing the world’s first community-owned resort, allowing people to purchase a stake in the Kunang Kunang glamping resort. Surrounded by green forests, the property offers 15 private pods and a grand suite. The Indonesian island of Bali is a 30-minute flight away — and local attractions include waterfalls and a breathtaking volcano. According to those behind this project, traditional timeshares can be full of pain points. Owners of timeshares only have the …

Indonesia’s central bank governor, Perry Warjiyo, is mobilizing official supervisors to enforce the country’s ban on financial institutions using crypto assets as a means of payment. During a virtual seminar on Tuesday, June 15, Warjiyo reiterated that local financial firms and payment provided are prohibited from facilitating the use of cryptocurrency to settle payments or as an instrument used in other financial services. The central bank governor emphasized that crypto assets are “not legitimate payment instruments under the constitution, Bank Indonesia Law, and Currency Law,” noting that field supervisors will be sent out to ensure that local financial institutions adhere …

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 …

Pintu, an Indonesia-based cryptocurrency exchange focusing on first-time crypto users, has raised $6 million to support its mission to drive industry adoption. The company announced Tuesday that it has completed a Series A funding round led by major global crypto investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Intudo Ventures, tech news agency Tech in Asia reports. Other inventors like Alameda Ventures, Blockchain Ventures, and Castle Island Ventures also participated in the round. Founded in 2020 by Jeth Soetoyo, Pintu is a major licensed cryptocurrency company in Indonesia, regulated by the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, or Bappepti. The exchange …

The Bank of Indonesia is one of the latest global central banks to announce state digital currency plans amid a major spike in the country’s digital payments. Governor Perry Warjiyo said Tuesday that Indonesia’s central bank is planning to launch a digital rupiah currency as a legal payment instrument in Indonesia, Reuters reports. The official noted that the rupiah is the only legally accepted currency for payment in the country so far, and BI will be looking to regulate a digital rupiah the same way it regulates cash and card-based transactions. According to Warjiyo, BI is now studying potential benefits …

Neilmaldrin Noor, a spokesperson for the Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes, said that the authority is considering a tax scheme for capital gains generated from cryptocurrency trades, Reuters reported on Tuesday. “It is important to know that if there is a profit or capital gain generated from a transaction, the profit is an object of income tax,” the official stated. Noor said that Indonesian taxpayers who receive capital gain from crypto trades would have to pay the tax and report it to the government. The official noted that the new crypto tax scheme for capital gains has not been implemented …

Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trade Regulatory Agency, also known as Bappebti, is considering levying a tax on all cryptocurrency transactions taking place on regulated exchanges within the country. Currently, 13 cryptocurrency exchanges fall under Bappebti’s regulatory oversight, and the tax would be automatically applied by these platforms should it be approved, according to a report by The Phnom Penh Post. “It is currently [undergoing] internal review at Bappebti, then we will coordinate with the BKF,” said Sidharta Utama, head of Bappebti, adding that the actual tax rate had not yet been decided. The BKF refers to Indonesia’s Fiscal Policy Agency. Regulatory …

Blockchain associations from Australia and five Southeast Asian nations are joining forces to promote blockchain development and education. Blockchain organizations from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday to promote blockchain collaboration in the Asia Pacific, Business Times reports. Initiated by Blockchain Association Singapore, or BAS, the MoU aims to engage with regulators to ensure legal compliance alongside raising industry awareness and education through a new blockchain consortium called the ASEAN Blockchain Consortium, or ABC. The ABC includes BAS, Blockchain Australia, Distributed Ledger Technology Association of the Philippines, Malaysia’s Labuan International Business and …