Indonesia’s biggest tech firm enters crypto with the acquisition of a local exchange

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Tue, 26 Sep 2023, 12:13 PM
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Indonesia’s biggest tech firm enters crypto with the acquisition of a local exchange

GoTo, described as Indonesia’s biggest tech firm, shelled out 124.84 billion rupiahs ($8.38 million) to acquire 100 percent of PT Kripto Maksima Koin’s shares.

Jakarta, Indonesia / Image by: Wikimedia Commons

Wed, 31 Aug 2022, 00:49 am UTC

Indonesian e-commerce giant PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo) has acquired local crypto exchange PT Kripto Maksima Koin as it seeks to diversify its portfolio. The deal is a major milestone for the country’s financial industry as it represents the merging of crypto and mainstream.

GoTo, described as Indonesia’s biggest tech firm, shelled out 124.84 billion rupiahs ($8.38 million) to acquire 100 percent of PT Kripto Maksima Koin’s shares. The transaction was finalized on Thursday last week, August 25.

At the moment, Goto did not disclose any plans on how it intends to further develop PT Kripto Maksima Koin’s business after acquiring the entire crypto exchange. A representative of the tech giant explained that the acquisition is part of its efforts to “a diverse money management hub.”

Meanwhile, PT Kripto Maksima Koin is one of the only 25 crypto platforms that have been granted a license to operate by Indonesia's Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (BAPPEBTI). In fact, the company only recently received its license on January 28, 2022.

GoTo was formed as a result of a merger between an on-demand multi-service platform and Indonesia’s e-commerce leader. The company raised $1.1 billion when conducted its initial public offering earlier this year.

Crypto has become increasingly popular among Indonesians in recent years. In fact, crypto transaction volume in 2021 surged by a staggering 1,000 percent compared to the previous year and soared to 859.4 trillion rupiahs ($57.7 billion), based on Reuters data. Around 11 million people or roughly 4% of Indonesia’s population have been investing in crypto.

However, there has been a rise in celebrity coins and non-fungible token (NFT) projects in Indonesia recently. This prompted regulators to such as the BAPPEBTI to issue warnings to the public reminding them of the risk involved in investing in non-registered digital assets.

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