With all the intricacies of Indonesia and Bitcoin, the way of the cryptocurrency in the region is still paving its way forward. Coin News had the chance to discuss with Oscar Darmawan, CEO of Bitcoin Indonesia the current movement in of his company in the cryptosphere.
Coin News: Hi Oscar. Can you tell us a bit about Bitcoin Indonesia? What are some specific challenges you’ve encountered in mounting it?
Oscar Darmawan: We found our company Bitcoin.co.id in the mid of 2013. In a low educated country, the main challenge mostly comes from educating people about the cryptocurrencies itself. We are giving our best effort to always inform people by explaining in details about cryptocurrencies instead of introducing them as investing tools. Approaching Bitcoin as an investment media will not constantly bring you good results, especially when the price goes down. We believe that the future of Bitcoin will be more than just about investment, especially when we discuss about the Blockchain technology and what it can do for people.
CNA: What led you to be interested in Bitcoin and come to believe that it is something that you would devote much of your time to?
OD: I used to be very sceptic about Bitcoin and all of this cryptocurrencies stuff but after going through a journey of doing Bitcoin arbitrage trading between China and US market, I learned many things about cryptocurrencies which eventually made me fall in love with them. I like the concept of Blockchain and how Bitcoin can actually help low income people through many of its uses (especially remittance) and trading. Bitcoin trading is quite simple to do compared to any other financial trading. People can earn profit from trading cryptocurrencies as well as enjoy the benefits from the features that they offer.
CNA: What can you say is the best thing about your venture in comparison with other crypto-related ventures? Can you share some definite advantages of operating it?
OD: We are lucky to be operating in one of the most interesting and highly populated countries in the world: Indonesia. We are serving in a country where there are at least 80% of unbanked people in the market due to our vast region and the lack of faith people have in our financial institutions. Credit card penetration is even lower than 10%, which is why Indonesia is often regarded as cash society. But we are optimistic about this because there are more than 250million people in term of population with remittance market cap reaching around 7 billion US dollar a year. Bitcoin with its remarkable features can be used to support remittance services and make them easier, faster and cheaper to do from anywhere around the world. Digital cash such as Bitcoin will allow people to hold their own money without involving any third parties—this sure will make them interested in giving it a chance!
CNA: How do you think Bitcoin will affect the Asian market in particular?
OD: Bitcoin will affect Asian merchants in the way it is affecting people in the micro remittance area, as well as change the way the new generation involve themselves in doing financial trading. I expect to see many young generation to be drawn into this cryptocurrency trading due to its simplicity and higher volatility rates to create potential high income for traders.
To be continued…
