Bank Indonesia plans to issue a regulation prohibiting transactions using Bitcoin (TIKER: BTC.EXANTE). The regulation would take effect starting next year, The Jakarta Post reported.
Bank Indonesia head of transformation Onny Widjanarko said the regulation on e-money would be issued in the near future.
“Currently, there is no single regulation for those who carry out transactions using Bitcoin,” Onny said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He said the central bank was currently carrying out an in-depth study to determine whether or not to include a ruling on Bitcoin in the prevailing e-money regulation or in a separate regulation on cryptocurrency.
The Bank called on merchants not to accept Bitcoin as an official payment instrument as the bank would not be responsible for any losses incurred through transactions, Onny said.
According to him, Bitcoin can potentially be used to violate prevailing regulations on terrorism, money laundering, prostitution and drug trafficking.