TL;DR Breakdown

• Indonesian crypto startup makes $35m in seed funding round.
• Pintu exchange to rool out more product and hire more talent after funding.

Pintu exchange, one of the most promising crypto startups in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has recorded remarkable success in its Series A funding.

The mobile native cryptocurrency wallet and trading platform raised $35 million in seed funding from blockchain investors, getting the startup in line to offer more products and services.

Pintu exchange funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and other high-profile venture funds. Alameda Ventures, Blockchain.com, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures also invested in the Indonesian crypto firm.

What next for Pintu exchange after funding?

According to Jeth Soetoyo, Pintu’s co-founder and CEO, the firm intends to hire more talents, roll out new product offerings, and fuel the future adoption of cryptocurrency in Indonesia.

He said the platform aims to help Indonesians overcome the barriers to financial inclusion.

This is as the crypto industry is still growing in the country, with companies finding it difficult to navigate complex regulatory frameworks for buying and selling digital assets.
The country’s regulator, Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, also known as BAPPEBTI, was ready to support the crypto industry. However, Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, maintains a strict ban on cryptocurrency payments.

Pintu exchange, however, is a licensed crypto exchange and allowed to serve retail investors.

Crypto in Indonesia

The government in the country maintains a neutral side to crypto. However, authorities back in May said they are considering a tax scheme for capital gains generated from cryptocurrency trades.

The Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes made the announcement stating that taxpayers who receive capital gain from crypto trades would have to pay the tax and report it to the government. However, the process is still being debated.

The crypto tax proposals come after years of blanket ban on payments made in cryptocurrencies. The country’s central bank issued a regulation banning the use of crypto in payment systems back in 2017.