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Indonesia to regulate digital gold transaction by the end of the year
With the goal to protect consumers from the risks of digital gold transaction, the Indonesian supervisory body for futures commodity trade (Bappebti) is preparing a set of regulations that is due to be finalised by the end of the year.
The scope of the regulations will include digital gold trade, particularly transactions that are being paid through an installment scheme. It will oblige sellers to have the gold products in physical form before offering them to potential buyers.
“Sellers will need to have the gold in physical form and it has to acquire Bappebti’s permission. The transaction should also be finalised through clearing. Everything will be regulated to ensure consumer protection,” said Bappebti chairman Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana.
The regulation was prepared in order to protect consumers from scams and even losses caused by sellers’ misconduct.
Wardhana saw a potentially great demand for digital gold trade; this is why businesses need to ensure that consumers will be able to receive their gold products once they have completed payment.
“The regulation is currently being processed. Hopefully we will be able to finalise it this year. By far there has not been any recorded cases of scams involving gold trading platforms, particularly on their payment installment scheme. But we are able to anticipate cases where buyers failed to receive their purchase upon payment,” Wardhana said.
There is a great opportunity for growth in the digital gold trading vertical, as can be seen through the launch of fintech startups offering the service. The trend also includes Indonesia’s own unicorns Tokopedia and Bukalapak.
Tokopedia is working with Orori for its Tokopedia Emas feature while Bukalapak is working with PT Sinar Rezeki Handal (Indo Gold) for its BukaEmas feature. Unlike most conventional gold bar trading companies, the platforms enable users to pay for the gold bars in installment.
One gram of gold is being sold for around IDR650,000 (US$44).
Source: https://e27.co/indonesia-to-regulate-digital-gold-transaction-by-the-end-of-the-year-20181128/