Bappebti Crypto Oversight and Licensing: What Changed in Indonesia in 2025

Indonesia’s crypto market exploded over the last five years. By 2023, over 17 million people were trading digital assets. By 2024, transaction volumes hit over IDR 650 trillion. But the rules changed-dramatically. On January 10, 2025, Bappebti stopped being the main regulator of cryptocurrency in Indonesia. It wasn’t just a name change. It was a full handover of power, from a commodity watchdog to the country’s financial services authority.

What Was Bappebti’s Role?

Bappebti, short for Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi, was Indonesia’s go-to agency for crypto oversight from 2019 until early 2025. It didn’t treat crypto like stocks or bank products. It treated them like soybeans or crude oil-commodities. That meant the agency focused on trading platforms, exchange rules, and fraud prevention, not investor protection or financial stability.

Under Bappebti, only crypto assets approved by the agency could be traded. By mid-2023, that list had grown to 501 coins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Traders needed to use registered exchanges. Exchanges had to follow strict rules on custody, reporting, and risk controls. Bappebti even set up its own clearing house and digital asset storage providers to bring structure to the market.

But there was a problem. Crypto wasn’t just a commodity. People were using it to save, invest, and send money. Some were treating it like a financial asset. Bappebti didn’t have the tools to handle that. It couldn’t enforce anti-money laundering rules like a bank. It couldn’t require disclosures like a stock exchange. It couldn’t supervise lending or staking services. The gap was growing.

Why Did Indonesia Switch Regulators?

The answer is simple: Indonesia needed a regulator that could handle crypto like finance, not farming.

In December 2020, Indonesia passed Law No. 4 of 2023 on Financial Sector Development and Strengthening (P2SK Law). This law gave the Financial Services Authority-known as OJK-the legal power to take over crypto oversight. The goal? Bring crypto into the same system as banks, insurance, and securities. No more gray zones. No more loopholes.

The handover wasn’t rushed. It took nearly four years to prepare. Bappebti, Bank Indonesia, and OJK worked together. On January 10, 2025, they signed the official handover documents in Jakarta. Bappebti’s acting chief, Tommy Andana, handed over the keys. OJK’s deputy commissioners accepted them. The message was clear: crypto is now part of Indonesia’s formal financial system.

What Changed Under OJK?

OJK Regulation No. 27 of 2024 replaced everything Bappebti had built. The biggest shift? Crypto assets are no longer commodities. They’re now called digital financial assets.

That change has real consequences:

• Trading platforms must now be licensed as Digital Financial Asset Traders-same as stock brokers.
• Disclosures are required for every crypto product offered to retail investors.
• Investor protection rules now include risk warnings, suitability assessments, and dispute resolution systems.
• Anti-money laundering controls are enforced by OJK’s financial intelligence unit, not just exchange self-reporting.
• Staking, lending, and DeFi services now fall under OJK’s supervision if offered to Indonesian users.

All existing licenses from Bappebti were honored. If you were a registered exchange before January 10, 2025, you didn’t have to reapply. But you had to adapt. New rules meant new compliance costs, new reporting formats, and stricter audits.

Who’s in Charge Now?

OJK runs the show for trading, custody, and investor-facing services. But crypto doesn’t live in a vacuum. Payments? That’s still Bank Indonesia’s job. If a crypto exchange lets users pay with e-wallets or bank transfers, BI steps in to make sure the payment rails are secure and compliant.

This split means crypto companies now answer to two regulators:

• OJK: What you sell, how you market it, who you serve, and how you protect investors.
• Bank Indonesia: How you move money in and out of the system.

It’s messy. But it’s realistic. Crypto touches both finance and payments. Indonesia didn’t try to force everything under one roof. It built a team.

What Does This Mean for Traders?

If you’re an Indonesian retail investor, the change is mostly good news.

You still trade the same coins-Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, and the rest. But now, exchanges must tell you what you’re getting into. They can’t just say, “Buy this, it’ll go up.” They have to explain risks, fees, and how your assets are stored. If something goes wrong, you have a clear path to complain.

For institutional investors, the change opens doors. Hedge funds, asset managers, and foreign crypto firms now have a clearer path to enter the market. OJK’s rules are modeled after global standards. That means more legitimacy. More trust. More capital.

But there’s a catch. The bar is higher. New exchanges must prove they have strong cybersecurity, independent audits, and real-time monitoring. Many small platforms couldn’t keep up. Some shut down. Others merged. The market is now more concentrated-fewer players, but stronger ones.

What About the Future?

The OJK era is just starting. Experts believe this is the foundation for Indonesia to lead in Southeast Asia’s crypto evolution.

OJK is already working on rules for:

• Tokenized assets (like real estate or bonds on blockchain)
• Stablecoins backed by rupiah or other assets
• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) used for ownership or access
• Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols targeting Indonesian users

The goal isn’t to ban innovation. It’s to make it safe. To make it legal. To make it part of the economy, not outside it.

Bappebti laid the groundwork. OJK is building the house. And Indonesia’s 17 million crypto users? They’re not going anywhere. They’re just getting better protection.

What Happened to Bappebti?

Bappebti didn’t disappear. It still exists. But its role is now limited to traditional commodities-palm oil, rubber, coffee, gold futures. Crypto is gone from its portfolio. The agency’s crypto team was absorbed into OJK. The infrastructure it built-the clearing house, the custody systems-is still running. Just under new management.

Think of it like this: Bappebti built the first highway for crypto. OJK is now adding traffic lights, toll booths, and emergency lanes.

How to Know If a Crypto Platform Is Legal in Indonesia

If you’re trading crypto in Indonesia, here’s how to stay safe:

1. Check if the platform is listed on OJK’s official website under Digital Financial Asset Traders.
2. Look for the OJK license number on the platform’s homepage or terms of service.
3. Don’t trust platforms that only mention Bappebti. That’s outdated.
4. Verify that the platform offers clear risk disclosures and customer support channels.
5. If it allows deposits via e-wallets or bank transfers, confirm it’s also compliant with Bank Indonesia’s payment rules.

There are fewer platforms now. But the ones left are the ones that passed the new test.

Final Thoughts

The shift from Bappebti to OJK wasn’t a setback. It was a upgrade. Indonesia didn’t slow down crypto. It made it real. It moved from a Wild West market to a regulated financial sector. That’s not just policy. That’s progress.

For users, it means more security. For businesses, it means more clarity. For Indonesia, it means crypto is finally being treated like the financial tool it is-not a gimmick, not a fad, but part of the future of money.