OJK Prepares Stablecoin Rules, Due January 2027
Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) continues to monitor blockchain adoption in financial services, including stablecoins. The regulator confirmed an OJK Regulation (POJK) on stablecoins is being prepared, targeted for completion in January 2027.
Adi Budiarso, OJK's Chief Executive for Financial Technology Innovation, Digital Assets, and Crypto Assets, said the POJK governing stablecoin use would be completed in January 2027, speaking at an OJK Board of Commissioners discussion with the media in Jakarta on Thursday (10/8/2026).
The POJK will set criteria for reserves, governance, consumer protection, and redemption (converting digital assets back into money), while safeguarding rupiah sovereignty and financial stability. It will also decide who may enter the industry: qualifying players get licenses, while unlicensed activity faces sanctions. OJK insists all crypto industry players in Indonesia must be licensed — unlicensed means illegal.
Stablecoins as Programmable Money
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to hold stable value by pegging to real-world reference assets such as the US dollar or gold. OJK sees stablecoin development as inseparable from the need for programmable money — digital money that can be programmed — as blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), and digital transactions grow.
Stablecoin is one of three products emerging from OJK's regulatory sandbox, alongside tokenization and real-world assets (RWA). Adi pointed to Tether (USDT) as an already-developed form of programmable money, entirely different from central-bank-issued CBDCs.
Bank Indonesia has drawn a clear line: through Project Garuda, it states the Digital Rupiah is fully a CBDC — not a crypto asset or a stablecoin. So while stablecoins and the Digital Rupiah can both serve as programmable money, their issuers, structures, and standing in the financial system differ.
E-Money-Like Functions to Remittances
OJK's discussion is shifting from stablecoins as traded assets to instruments for digital transactions. OJK sees stablecoin functions eventually resembling e-money — usable directly in transactions — though implementation still needs a legal framework and OJK-Bank Indonesia coordination.
OJK and BI are coordinating on the stablecoin ecosystem, including a working group studying credit scoring and synergy between payment systems and the digital-asset ecosystem. Beyond domestic transactions, OJK sees stablecoin potential for remittances and cross-border payments at lower cost.
The scale is global: stablecoin capitalization stood at about US$320 billion at end-May 2026, with 2025 global transactions estimated at US$28 trillion. Domestically, rupiah stablecoin IDRP by PT Adhyoka Berkah Maju passed the sandbox in June 2026, while IDRX is developing as a 1:1 rupiah-pegged stablecoin.
