Indonesia Has the Opportunity to Strengthen the Position of the Liquidity Hub of Crypto Assets

Vice President of Business Development INDODAX, James Eugene. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has the opportunity to strengthen its position as a liquidity hub for crypto assets in the region, given the large domestic market interest and the interest of global blockchain projects in Indonesia. However, these opportunities need to be followed by strengthening the ecosystem, especially from the builders, liquidity, and regulatory certainty sides.

Vice President of Business Development INDODAX, James Eugene, said that Indonesia has become an attractive market for global blockchain projects. According to him, the high domestic market activity shows the attraction that can become the initial capital for Indonesia to build a greater role at the regional level as a liquidity hub.

"They (global projects) see Indonesia as a market with great potential and strong liquidity. However, liquidity itself is much more complex because it involves many actors, so synergy is needed to develop products and ecosystems together," said James in a discussion panel at the Indonesia Blockchain Week (IDBW) 2026, quoted Saturday, August 15.

However, the size of the market opportunity does not mean that all innovations can immediately enter without considering the regulatory aspect. James assessed that the position of the exchange is to find a balance between market needs, innovation, and compliance. Consumer protection remains the main consideration when dealing with various new projects and products that want to enter the Indonesian market.

"What needs to be done is to find the sweet spot between regulation and innovation. We are trying to encourage liquidity, especially in Indonesia, but of course we also have to pay attention to regulation. Consumer protection is really one of the biggest things to pay attention to," he said.

According to James, there are two things that need to be strengthened if Indonesia wants to develop into a crypto hub in Southeast Asia. First, more and more builders are building products and infrastructure with global capabilities. Second, the availability of liquidity that can connect projects, exchanges, investors, and various parts of the blockchain ecosystem.

"We need more builders. The second is always about liquidity. Liquidity is needed by projects, exchanges, and all rails in the blockchain ecosystem. Venture capital also has an important role to support the overall growth of the market," he explained.

On the other hand, James assessed that regulatory certainty is one of the important factors to attract the participation of global institutions and companies. According to him, Indonesia has regulations on digital assets, but the certainty of the direction of regulation and legal infrastructure will be one of the foundations in determining business actors' decisions to build businesses in Indonesia.

"The important thing is certainty about how regulations and legal infrastructure will go forward. For foreign institutions or companies, this is one of the considerations when determining whether they want to build a business in Indonesia," he said.

According to him, the ecosystem needs to build more products and infrastructure that can be used globally, while creating conditions that allow liquidity to grow from the supply and demand sides. With this combination, Indonesia has room to strengthen its role in the digital asset ecosystem in the region.

As a licensed Indonesian crypto exchange, INDODAX sees the strengthening of these three aspects as a foundation so that Indonesia not only becomes a market for digital asset users, but also develops as part of a regional digital asset ecosystem that is able to attract global projects, capital, and innovation.