Indonesia's financial supervisory authority (OJK) reported that approximately 72% of licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in the country were still not profitable by the end of 2025, even though the number of crypto users surpassed 20 million.
The figures indicate a structural problem. The user base is growing rapidly, but more prefer foreign platforms. Therefore, domestic exchanges are struggling to compete.
Indonesia's cost and liquidity gap
According to OJK, which local media refers to, the total value of cryptocurrency transactions fell to 482.23 trillion IDR (approximately 30 billion USD) in 2025, compared to 650 trillion IDR in 2024. OJK believes that more Indonesian investors are trading through regional and global platforms instead of the country's own exchanges.
Indodax CEO William Sutanto says that the outflow is due to traders seeking better conditions abroad.
“The number of crypto users in Indonesia is already large, but the domestic transaction value is not optimal because much activity goes to the global ecosystem. The market is looking for places with more efficient trading and lower fees,” says Sutanto.
He points to unfair competition. Domestic exchanges must pay taxes and follow local regulations, but foreign platforms offering services to Indonesian users are exempt from these burdens. Indonesian investors can still use foreign exchanges via VPN and deposit money with local banks.
Foreign exchanges do not have the same tax and compliance requirements as domestic players, but Indonesian investors can still use them,” says Sutanto.
Indonesian crypto users who spoke to BeInCrypto provided several reasons for preferring foreign platforms: lower fees, faster withdrawals, and lingering security issues after the Indodax hacking in 2024. “Local exchanges require a lot of documentation for withdrawals over 1,000 USD. With P2P on global exchanges, it takes less than a minute,” says one user.
Structural stresses
The Indonesian crypto market received new regulations on January 10, 2025, when oversight was moved from the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) to OJK. The authority aimed to break the monopoly by issuing new licenses. Now, 29 licensed exchanges are competing for a limited domestic market, increasing pressure on profitability.
At the same time, global players are entering the market directly. Robinhood announced in December that they plan to acquire Indonesian PT Buana Capital Sekuritas and licensed crypto trader PT Pedagang Aset Kripto.
Bybit also announced a strategic partnership with the local platform NOBI to launch Bybit Indonesia, while Binance is already active in the country through its subsidiary Tokocrypto. The influx of global competitors with strong finances further increases pressure on domestic exchanges with slim margins.
In addition to global, licensed competitors, the market is also losing to unlicensed platforms. It is estimated that Indonesia loses between 70 and 110 million USD in taxes each year.
Concerns about trust in Indonesian exchanges
Indodax itself is under scrutiny. OJK is currently investigating reports of approximately 600 million IDR in missing customer funds. Indodax claims that the loss is due to external factors such as phishing and social manipulation, not technical failures. The case shows what trust issues domestic exchanges must resolve to retain users.
Sutanto wants to see clear oversight against illegal foreign platforms while simultaneously building a stronger domestic ecosystem. He says that collaboration between authorities and industry players is crucial.