A round up of our trip to Indonesia for the SWIPE hackathon and insights on why Indonesia is ripe for blockchain technology disruption.

From far left: Andika (Blockchain Developer), Iyan Waer (COO) Mustofa (Software Developer), Harmanda(Lead of BD), Xue Kai (CEO Tokocrypto) From far Right: Andrew (CTO), Jody (Co-founder Wallex), Malcolm (Marketing Director), Heru and Choirul (Software Developers)

In the history of technological advancement, it is those that served real pressing needs that flourish most vibrantly and Indonesia, the 4th largest populated country in the world, is in real need of blockchain technology. They have an astonishing amount of unbanked citizens, with up to 80% of them not having any access to financial services.

The silver lining is that, according to PwC, Indonesia has the third largest smartphone growth in Asia, only behind China and India. This is setting the stage for mass adoption of blockchain technology as a way for them to gain access to digital services and financial inclusion without necessarily needing a bank account.

In terms of regulations, Bank Indonesia (BI) is very open to the implementation of blockchain technology. Quoted from Tempo.co, BI Executive Director for Payment System Policy Department, Eny V. Panggabean said that the blockchain technology should be developed further. And it looks like the Indonesian government is also on board because the Minister of Communication and Informatics (Menkominfo) Rudiantara openly supports blockhain technology. Quoted from the Kominfo’s website page, Rudiantara said that blockchain is something that is just unavoidable. He personally supports blockchain since it gives transparency in every transaction. [1]