Coinbase leads $6M funding for Indonesian crypto exchange
Pintu is a new cryptocurrency exchange in Indonesia, licensed as a crypto broker under Bappebti and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.
Pintu, an Indonesia-based cryptocurrency exchange focusing on first-time crypto users, has raised $6 million to support its mission to drive industry adoption.
The company announced Tuesday that it has completed a Series A funding round led by major global crypto investors including Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Intudo Ventures, tech news agency Tech in Asia reports. Other inventors like Alameda Ventures, Blockchain Ventures, and Castle Island Ventures also participated in the round.
Founded in 2020 by Jeth Soetoyo, Pintu is a major licensed cryptocurrency company in Indonesia, regulated by the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, or Bappepti. The exchange is registered under Bappebti and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics as a licensed crypto broker.
The company’s new funding will be turned into marketing, hiring and product development to attract more newcomers to the industry. Pintu chief operating officer Andrew Adjiputro reportedly noted that Pintu is a bit different from major Indonesian crypto exchanges like Indodax and Tokocrypto as Pintu is focused on the mass market to reach mainly first-time crypto users.
Adjiputro said that many Indonesian retail traders view crypto as an alternative investment asset class, with most of the investors being aged between 20 and 35 years old.
“For most Indonesians, the concept of investing and trading is new, because historically penetration in these categories have been so low. So what we’re seeing is also the opportunity to help Indonesians understand the concept of investing/trading and along the way leapfrog investments into other asset classes,” the COO stated.
As previously reported, Indonesia has been keeping cryptocurrency trading legal despite putting a blanket ban on crypto payments back in 2017. Yesterday, the country’s central bank reportedly announced state digital currency plans, intending to make a digital rupiah currency a legal payment instrument in Indonesia.
