IslamicFinance.de

Saudi Arabia is watching the cryptocurrency market closely. According to Mohammed ElKuwaiz, chairman of Saudi Arabia's Capital Markets Authority, the authority is still evaluating the appropriate response and some regulations might be coming soon. However, the regulator comments indicate we should not expect any ban on cryptocurrencies. This is because the local Bitcoin craze has not reached the proportions seen in China or South Korea. There are several cryptocurrency-oriented companies that provide services in the kingdom. Before imposing any regulations, Saudi Arabia would like to see how the new markets behave, so it has left the door open for pilot projects from startups that operate with emerging technologies. Local regulators have initiated a sandbox program to facilitate such activities.

From January 1, Indonesia is introducing a ban on crypto coins as payment options. The Indonesian government wants to ban forms of payment processing and make payment processing available only by owning a banking license. Such moves show how governments could crack down on crypto coins, while being generally accepting of fintech payment systems, even going as far as licensing them. Indonesia recognizes fintech firms as those providing payment systems, market support, investment management or risk management, P2P lending, financing providers and other financial services. All new fintech products in Indonesia would be tested in a sandbox environment before receiving a license.