OJK Pilots Crypto Fund Unit, Final Rules for ETFs and ICOs Expected by Year-End

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JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) is testing a crypto-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) equivalent—called a "crypto fund unit"—within its regulatory sandbox, marking the country’s latest move to build a structured framework for digital asset investment.

“There are currently no crypto ETFs officially regulated in Indonesia because the rules aren’t in place yet. But we’re developing and testing a similar product that we call a crypto fund unit,” said Hasan Fawzi, Chief Executive of Supervision for Financial Technology Innovation, Digital Financial Assets, and Crypto Assets at OJK, during a virtual press conference on Tuesday, July 8.

The fund is designed to let investors diversify their crypto holdings through a single instrument, rather than purchasing individual assets. According to OJK, the testing process is a collaboration between the digital finance innovation and capital markets divisions, given the product’s capital-market-like characteristics.

“The testing is conducted in phases based on the sandbox participant’s roadmap, with on-site supervision and end-to-end evaluations of the customer journey,” said Hasan. “The results will serve as a foundation for future regulation.”

Global Momentum Grows for Crypto ETFs

While Indonesia’s regulatory sandbox is still in an early phase, crypto ETFs have seen significant progress abroad. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, followed by the launch of a spot Ethereum ETF in May 2025. Investment giants including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Ark Invest have since funneled billions into these vehicles.

Hong Kong has also emerged as a regional leader, authorizing spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in April 2024, creating a regulated gateway for institutional investors in Asia.

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a basket of assets—such as stocks, bonds, commodities, or crypto—that can be traded on stock exchanges. ETFs allow investors to diversify without owning the underlying assets directly. For example, a Bitcoin ETF typically tracks the cryptocurrency’s price through futures contracts, offering a regulated and accessible way to gain exposure to crypto markets via exchanges like NASDAQ or NYSE.

ICO Rules on the Horizon

Hasan also confirmed that OJK is drafting dedicated rules for initial coin offerings (ICOs), aiming to finalize the regulations by the end of 2025. The upcoming framework will govern token issuance, offering mechanisms, issuer qualifications, and the role of ICO platform providers.

“The ICO regulation is currently in progress and is expected to be issued by the end of 2025,” he said. “It will provide legal certainty, enhance market integrity, safeguard financial system stability, and foster economic benefits from Indonesia’s digital asset ecosystem.”

The regulation is expected to expand access to crypto investment and allow domestic crypto exchanges to register and launch new tokens legally on Indonesian trading platforms.

Hasan emphasized that OJK had included the ICO rule in this year’s legislative agenda (Prolegnas) and that the process will begin with academic studies involving industry players and associations.

“In the early stages, the regulation will be drafted at the level of a POJK [Financial Services Authority Regulation],” Hasan said at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Financial Services Industry in February. “We want to provide a home for domestic coins with legitimate use cases and good underlying assets—so they no longer need to be issued abroad.”

Currently, OJK’s whitelist includes approximately 1,153 crypto tokens that are legally tradable through registered crypto asset dealers in Indonesia.