Despite Bank Indonesia (BI) has announced plans to issue launch a digital currency of its own using the blockchain technology, The Jakarta Post reported.
BI’s assistant deputy director for bank payment systems, Susiati Dewi, said that the central bank is looking to adopt blockchain technology for a potential digital rupiah, trials for which are expected to start this year.
“One day it’s possible that the banknotes we issue will be replaced with digital money. But right now, not yet. However, no country has released such money yet,” said Susiati Dewi.
She assured that the digital currencies issued by BI and other central banks were different from current cryptocurrencies because the digital money would be based on the certain values of assets.
Susiati Dewi added that the value and distribution of the digital rupiah would be determined by the country’s physical assets and financial condition, therefore making it less susceptible to volatility in value.
Late last year, BI Governor Agus Martowardojo said that, in their bid to protect the rupiah as the legal tender in the country, the central bank would ban Bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) and all forms of cryptocurrency sometime in 2018, which includes prohibiting any party from facilitating their transactions.