Indonesia’s “Celebrity Tokens” Go Viral, Cryptocurrency Adoption Rises Rapidly

Cryptocurrency investment in Indonesia has seen considerable growth between 2020 and 2022, with 4% of the country’s population investing in cryptocurrencies. In 2021, cryptocurrency trading volume exceeded $34 billion, according to Indonesia’s commodity futures trading regulator. One example of cryptocurrency’s growing mainstream appeal is the involvement of Indonesian celebrities and influencers.

Celebrities adopt cryptocurrency

Indonesian celebrities and influencers appear to be more involved in Indonesia’s crypto investment industry since 2021. Many have become brand ambassadors for exchanges and crypto projects to help promote them and essentially boost trading volumes. For example, Indonesian actor Joe Taslim and Indonesian models and actresses Jessica Iskandar and Shandy Aulia, among others.

Some celebrities have even created their own cryptocurrencies. The celebrity token trend has flourished, especially after Anang Hermansyah, one of Indonesia’s most prominent musicians, created his own token.

As of February 2022, there are three celebrity tokens that are popular in Indonesia: VCG (VCG), Asix (ASIX), and I-Coin (ICN).

However, before that, the trend started with an influencer named Indra Kenz, who created his own token with his team Botxcoin (BOTX).

Celebrity NFT Projects

BOTX is an Ethereum-based project that plans to be a decentralized social trading platform to be launched in 2021. BOTX is the first celebrity token in Indonesia and aims to be the first decentralized crypto copy trading platform in Indonesia.

After its launch, influencers seemed to pay more attention to the growing blockchain and crypto trends. NFTs have also become very popular in Indonesia, especially when an Indonesian NFT collection called “Ghozali Everyday” became famous worldwide for its uniqueness.

Due to the booming cryptocurrency and NFT trends, celebrities have begun creating their own NFT and cryptocurrency projects.

Indonesian singer and socialite Syahrini created her own NFT project and became popular worldwide. Using the pseudonym Princess Syahrini, she created an NFT series and sold it on Binance's NFT marketplace. Her "Syahrini's Metaverse Journey" NFT series reportedly sold out in just 8 hours after it was launched.

Another prominent figure in the Indonesian entertainment industry who created her own NFT project is actress, model, and singer Luna Maya. Together with Tokau, a Japanese art company with experience in NFT creation, she launched a collection of only 10 NFTs. Her collection was sold on the BakerySwp NFT marketplace and attracted the attention of many, including Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

This trend continues as more Indonesian celebrities explore, promote, and create their own NFT projects.

Indonesian celebrities who have recently promoted NFT projects include actor Brandon Salim, famous Indonesian chef Arnold Poernomo, and the influencer known as Jejouw. They promoted one of Indonesia’s most successful NFT projects, “Karafuru,” which has gone global and currently has a trading volume of 37,200 ETH.

Government response

As celebrities create their own NFTs and crypto projects build hype, regulators are stepping in to protect investors.

The Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Authority, also known as BAPPEBTI, is currently warning celebrities that their projects need to be approved on Indonesia’s legal cryptocurrencies list before promoting them. BAPPEBTI warns that there are only 229 cryptocurrencies that can be legally traded in Indonesia, and “new crypto assets to be traded in Indonesia should be registered under BAPPEBTI through a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Indonesia and evaluated in accordance with the applicable rules in Indonesia. Therefore, crypto assets that are not registered on BAPPEBTI’s list of legal crypto assets cannot be traded in Indonesia.”

As of now, most illegal cryptocurrencies have not been fined or sentenced to any penalties because most of them are in negotiations with BAPPEBTI. BAPPEBTI is open to new cryptocurrencies that are legal in Indonesia as long as they want to comply with legal requirements and processes and be supervised by the agency.

BAPPEBTI also works with committees such as the Indonesian Blockchain Association to help create a better environment for cryptocurrencies in Indonesia, especially with the rise of celebrity tokens.

The chairman of the Indonesian Blockchain Association said: “My opinion on the celebrity token trend in Indonesia is neutral as long as they comply with existing regulations. Because in the past few years, there have been a lot of Indonesians who have created their own cryptocurrencies. But I think it is important for Indonesian developers to understand that their cryptocurrency must have value to investors and users, and must have something that distinguishes it from other existing cryptocurrencies. This is because they have a responsibility to investors and token holders. Developers need to work together to help change the mentality in Indonesia that regards cryptocurrency as a scam.”

This statement clearly shows that the government wants to provide the best services for crypto investors and creators in Indonesia. It can be concluded that the Indonesian government supports the growth of cryptocurrencies as long as it is done in a regulated and secure manner.

The trend of celebrities and influencers joining in the creation and promotion of crypto projects has made the crypto space in Indonesia bigger. Data shows that the trading volume has grown exponentially, with a growth of more than 100% since 2020, mainly supported by retail investors. Institutions have also become interested, as evidenced by their participation in the financing and investment of blockchain or crypto-related projects.

Major business group Sinar Mas is backing the launch of a new cryptocurrency called NanoByte (NBT), with its partner being the Tokocrypto exchange. Nanobyte is a token created by the exchange, which also plans to integrate with e-money and credit cards in Indonesia. This is to help investors and holders use their crypto wallets and NBT to pay for their daily needs.

These projects could trigger a domino effect of Indonesian financial institutions investing in the blockchain or crypto space. However, this also forces regulators to formulate new regulations to support growth.