Tokoin

The use of blockchain in Indonesia continues to grow slowly. Now there are a number of local startups that have started implementing this technology in various fields.

Call it Tokoin, a blockchain based platform provider that appears to connect retailers to supply chain networks. Tokoin digitizes retail business identities to have a reliable reputation, to open up opportunities for collaboration with other organizations.

There is also HARA, a startup that provides tools to exchange data through the blockchain in the agricultural sector, starting with farmers, banks, marketers, insurance companies, and so on. The founder of the local game studio Touchten also participated in the distribution of games based on tokens called PlayGame.

Because the number of players on the blockchain in Indonesia is increasing, where will this technology grow in 2019? In addition to regulation, what obstacles are hampering its development?

Significant development

According to the Indonesian Blockchain Association, more than two years (2018-2019) In Indonesia, the number of blockchain companies has grown by more than 30 percent. Some target sectors are usually associated with data decentralization efforts in certain sectors, which then contribute to the release of tokens or digital currency (cryptocurrency) as a commodity platform.

In May 2019, thirteen startups from Indonesia actively participated in the draft decision based on the blockchain. In addition, there are also five companies that provide consulting and development services.

This achievement is considered a positive executive director of the Indonesian Blockchain Association (ABI), Mohammed Daivito Dungio. This man, who was familiar with Ohama's call, explained that, although the regulator was still waiting and seeing the definition of approach, the decision of the Bappebti Futures Regulatory Agency on cryptocurrency validity in 2018 provided a breath of fresh air for Indonesia's ecosystems.

This can be seen from the increasing number of cryptocurrency exchanges in Indonesia. At present, there are eighteen startups investing in this product, starting from Indodax, Coinone Indonesia, and ending with DigitalExchange.id.

"We currently have 18 exchanges that are officially opened in Indonesia. Although not all of them are in the form of a PT, they are already equipped with legal documents. This situation is related to our own government regulations regarding the situation, should the exchange be established in Indonesia in the form of a PT or not? "

Oham explained that by observing this development, the government could at least see the potential to develop blockchain technology in Indonesia. But to achieve a significant level of implementation in the industry, he felt that implementation was still constrained by the driving factors of the entrepreneurs themselves.

"The biggest obstacle in the application of blockchain technology in Indonesia is a very large knowledge gap about the technology itself. "This leads to a lack of knowledge on the part of different parties about solutions that can really be solved using blockchain technology," Oham explained.

In addition, there are many supporters who believe that the successful implementation of this technology is evaluated by examples of success stories that have emerged with previous users.

Considering that the adaptation of blockchain technology in Indonesia is still relatively early, do not be surprised if there are still a number of parties who are pessimistic about its implementation, bearing in mind that they do not need to pay the least cost to move there.

The challenge we face is ensuring that this technology has enormous potential to solve the problems faced, especially in Indonesia.

Education is still a foundation

One thing that contributes to the problem of knowledge gaps in this type of technology is a fundamental understanding of the difference between blockchain and cryptocurrency itself. Not a few people who find it difficult to distinguish these two things, given the close relationship.

Training the majority of Indonesians who cannot distinguish them from cryptocurrency, is considered one of the many homework assignments for those who do this technology in our country. This was reported by one of the founders of the Indonesian Blockchain Network, Merlin Li, for his observations about the development of the introduction of this technology in Indonesia.

As in other countries, the use of the blockchain function requires a lot of effort in the field of education, and the cost is not small, so that its function can really feel the related industry. For this reason, it is not surprising that the first example of a new business implementation based on the blockchain is the production of tokens (or ICO) to receive support from outside investors.

"Local startups who really want to raise funds to develop blockchain-based solutions in Indonesia usually do ICO to support their steps to attract outside investors. "They don't raise funds for local investors, because on average they have big doubts about investing in this area."

According to Merlin, the problems faced by blockchain experts and associations themselves are quite confusing, given that there are irresponsible parties who want to use the space for evil purposes. One of them is the Ponzi investment scheme.

"In essence, with the existing knowledge gap, a number of parties can cheat by issuing tokens. Now it's easy to make tokens, and it's harder to make business models according to the application of the blockchain technology itself. That is why the education process is needed here, "Merlin said.

Since being officially introduced in March 2018, the Indonesian Blockchain Association has identified the learning process as one of the goals of creating an organization. In addition, there are also several other programs, such as:

Become a forum that unites and encourages cooperation among blockchain players in this country.
Become a public and private company partner in the development of technology and crypto currencies, as well as in the development of regulations on this technology.
Collect data about transactions and investments received by blockchain players in the country so that they can be used for the government.
Help the community determine which companies can be trusted and which cannot.

In 2019, the Association aims to promote more positive ecosystem growth through the education process, which is classified into three groups:

government
Industry players and
Student

Based on the three pillars of education, the Association hopes to increase public awareness about the application of this technology, and not only talk about the possibility of investing in crypto currencies.

This will increase their customer base as a result of connecting to the Tokoin network. If you are interested in partnering with Tokoin, please email us at hello@tokoin.io