Bitcoin Indonesia, a prominent online Bitcoin marketplace for Indonesian traders and investors, revealed a rapid development in its user base after adding over 170,000 members within 12 months.
At the beginning of 2016, Bitcoin Indonesia served 80,000 active users on its marketplace. Tens of thousands of members purchased and sold Bitcoin through Bitcoin Indonesia through simplistic deposit and withdrawal methods such as bank over-the-counter cash settlement and online transfer.
Over the past year, Bitcoin Indonesia’s user base grew from 80,000 to more than 250,000 active members. In January of 2015, Bitcoin Indonesia operated a platform with less than 50,000 members, thus, in essence, throughout the entire year of 2015 the platform only added 30,000 consumers.
In comparison, this year’s growth is equivalent to nearly 6x of the average user base growth of last year, which can be considered to be an optimistic sign for the long-term development of Bitcoin Indonesia and the Indonesian Bitcoin market in general.
Massive increase in daily trading volume
Bitcoin Indonesia revealed a massive increase in its daily transaction volume, which currently stands at $1.48 mln. While the platform’s trading volume is only a fraction of other major Bitcoin exchanges, it is substantially larger than other markets such as the Philippines and Thailand.
Suasti Atmastuti Astaman, the business development manager at Bitcoin Indonesia, attributed the growth of the platform’s user base and trading volume to the legalization of Bitcoin in various countries including China, the US and Russia.
The clear regulatory framework and policies on Bitcoin are allowing local Indonesian users to better understand the benefits and advantages of using Bitcoin instead of fiat or other banking services.
Astaman said in an interview with a local publication:
“Bitcoin’s value completely depends on supply and demand in the market. At present, as more and more countries have relaxed their stances on the digital currency, including the United States, China and Russia, more and more people are putting their trust in it. That’s why Bitcoin’s value has been rapidly surging.”
However, the operators of Bitcoin Indonesia and other startups in the region must attempt to educate users on the basic concepts of Bitcoin to prepare for the inevitable legal conflicts that will arise in the future.
If certain governments such as China attempt to ban Bitcoin and the entire motivation of using Bitcoin relies on the current regulatory frameworks, it may significantly affect the long-term survivability of the company.