Jakarta – Bank Indonesia (BI) has teamed up with the National Police to prevent transactions using cryptocurrency bitcoin in Bali after the central bank declared it an illegal form of payment in Indonesia.
"We are looking out for bitcoin transactions in Bali, particularly in tourist spots. We will take measures against non-rupiah transactions," said BI's Bali office head Causa Iman Karana over the weekend in Denpasar as reported by tempo.co.
As a noted tourist destination, he said, Bali was an alluring place for those who wanted to carry out illegal transactions.
Therefore, he called on the people not to accommodate offers of transactions using the virtual money. "We warned people not to carry out transactions with virtual money because there is no authority that regulates the transactions," he said.
Previously, BI spokesman Agusman said the central bank prohibited payment using bitcoin as it violated Law No. 7/2011 on currency.
To specify the ban, BI has also issued BI Regulation No. PBI: 19/12/PBI/2017 on the implementation of financial technology. Under the law, any payment in Indonesia has to be in rupiah.
Agusman also warned that transactions with bitcoin had high risk because the cryptocurrency had no official administrator. He also explained that bitcoin was at high risk of being used for money laundering, terrorism and other criminal transactions.
"Therefore, [BI] wants all parties not to sell, buy or trade the virtual currency," he added. (bbn)