Can Binance, along with Indonesia’s richest family drive crypto adoption in the country

Binance Holdings Ltd. is reportedly in conversation with two parties to set up a cryptocurrency trading exchange in Indonesia. Bloomberg reported citing sources that the venture could include the Hartonos, Indonesia’s richest family that controls PT Bank Central Asia along with interest in sectors like telecom and e-commerce. The other party is a state-owned telecom operator called PT Telkom.

EXCLUSIVE: Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is in talks with Indonesia’s richest family and a state-owned telecom operator for a venture https://t.co/OlcVeRW2FX pic.twitter.com/WfDYoxqcsO

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) December 10, 2021

The development follows chatter that Binance as an influential global exchange will improve crypto adoption in Indonesia. The country had earlier this year announced plans for a central bank digital currency. Now, the central bank is pushing for a digital form of the rupiah to ‘fight’ private cryptocurrencies, as per earlier reports.

It is worth noting that recently, Indonesia’s council of religious leaders ended up prohibiting crypto for Muslims. A decision that was announced by the National Ulema Council (MUI) and was considered to be in line with the Shariah law. And lately, the country’s top leaders have continued to tighten the regulations around cryptos.

Therefore, the partnership can also provide Binance with a firm footing in the Asian nation. None of the parties have commented on the matter and the deal is yet to be finalized.

Binance on expansion spree

Apart from Indonesia, Binance recently expressed plans to expand in the U.K. As the world’s largest exchange in terms of trade volume, Binance has also come under fire from regulators globally. However, Binance aims to become a registered crypto-asset firm in the U.K in the next six to 18 months. Binance Asia has also applied for a license in Singapore to provide digital asset services in the country.

In a previous interview, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao had reiterated that Europe and the U.S are large markets, and he wishes to leverage it. And, Binance has been be currently focusing on working “closely with regulators all around the world,” according to CZ.

Recently Binance Labs also led a $1.5-million seed round for BBS network for a SocialFi project. Ken Li, Investment Director of Binance Labs then stated,

“Our team has been deeply exploring the Web 3.0 SocialFi landscape, and we are excited by what decentralization can do for the creator economy, as well as billions of daily social media users.”