Indonesia embraces adaptive rules as digital-asset innovation accelerates

Bali, Indonesia, September 1, 2026 — As digital assets create new financial products faster than traditional regulation can keep up, Indonesia is moving toward a more adaptive model one designed to keep pace with technology, protect consumers and give innovation room to grow.

That direction was laid out by Mukhamad Misbakhun, Chairman of Commission XI of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, during his keynote at Coinfest Asia 2026 in Bali on Aug. 20, where policymakers, regulators and digital-asset industry leaders gathered to discuss the next phase of the sector.

Mukhamad Misbakhun delivers his keynote speech at Coinfest Asia 2026 in Bali. Photo: Coinfest Asia

“Indonesia is very, very adaptive in regulation,” Misbakhun said.

He pointed to the legal foundation underpinning that approach. Digital financial assets have been incorporated into Indonesia’s financial-sector legislation, giving the sector statutory backing rather than leaving it solely to lower-level regulation.

“In Indonesia, it is by law. It is very high in the regulatory hierarchy,” he said.

Speaking in an interview after the session, Misbakhun said legal certainty should not come at the expense of innovation.

“As policymakers, we have a fundamental principle: regulation should not kill innovation, hinder innovation or prevent new initiatives from emerging,” he said.

That philosophy is increasingly visible in practice. Crypto supervision has moved from a commodities-based regime into the financial-services sector, while newer activities including stablecoins, tokenization, digital-asset custody and crypto fund management are beginning to receive regulatory pathways of their own.

Stablecoins and tokenization get a regulatory path

Misbakhun pointed to Indonesia’s regulatory sandbox as one of the clearest examples of how policymakers are trying to accommodate financial products that do not yet fit neatly within existing rules.

“The sandbox is the most democratic space,” he said. “You bring your ideas and the instruments you want to introduce to the market, and the regulator discusses at what stage they need to be regulated, supervised and subject to consumer protection.”

The mechanism is already being used beyond conventional crypto trading.

As of July 31, 2026, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority, or OJK, had received 343 consultation requests from prospective sandbox participants and 35 formal applications. Models that had completed testing included gold tokenization, securities tokenization, tokenized property-ownership benefits, issuance of a rupiah stablecoin, non-trading digital-asset custody and crypto fund management.

Misbakhun said the scope could extend further. He pointed to government securities, mining assets, property and infrastructure such as toll roads and ports as assets that could eventually be explored through tokenization.

Indonesia’s regulatory framework has also continued to evolve as new products emerge. Its core digital-asset trading rules were introduced in 2024, expanded in 2025 as activities such as digital-asset derivatives developed, and followed by additional implementing requirements in 2026 covering areas including reporting, asset evaluation and risk management.

“We are moving very fast in this industry, including in regulation,” Misbakhun said during his Coinfest Asia keynote.

Building a stronger domestic market

For Misbakhun, adaptive regulation is not only about accommodating new products. It is also about ensuring Indonesia has enough domestic infrastructure to support activity generated by its own investors.

He argued that Indonesia should become the “host” for its digital-asset economy, with more activity taking place within a domestic market that is regulated, transparent and able to protect investors.

“We need to build a strong exchange — one that is well regulated, transparent and open, and protects investors, but also gives the industry room to continue growing,” he said.

Indonesia already has considerable scale behind that ambition. As of June 2026, the country had 22.69 million digital-asset customer accounts, while monthly crypto transaction value reached IDR28.58 trillion.

The regulated market had also expanded to 32 licensed entities, comprising two exchanges, two clearing and settlement institutions, two custodians and 26 digital financial asset traders.

The size of the market gives Indonesia a substantial base from which to develop a broader digital-finance ecosystem beyond retail crypto trading.

A four-pillar blueprint for digital finance

Misbakhun framed that longer-term ambition through a four-pillar blueprint for Indonesia’s digital-asset ecosystem: legal certainty, settlement infrastructure, protection and talent capacity.

Legal certainty provides the statutory foundation for new financial activities. Settlement infrastructure covers developments including central bank digital currency, stablecoins and other forms of digital currency, while the protection layer places regulatory oversight and investor safeguards at the center of the framework.

The fourth pillar, talent capacity, focuses on building the people and institutional capabilities needed to support an increasingly sophisticated digital-finance market.

“Cross-authority collaboration is very, very important,” Misbakhun said, calling for Parliament, OJK, Bank Indonesia and other stakeholders to work together across those areas.

That emphasis on adaptability is also reflected in Indonesia’s next digital-finance policy cycle. Agility has been identified as one of the principles guiding future regulation, alongside affordability, integrity and sovereignty, as policymakers and regulators explore areas including tokenization, stablecoins and other emerging financial models.

The discussion at Coinfest Asia also underscored the event’s role as a forum where policymakers, regulators and industry leaders can engage directly as digital-asset frameworks across the region continue to evolve.

For Misbakhun, Indonesia’s direction ultimately comes back to a straightforward principle.

“We want regulation to foster innovation,” he said.