Bitcoin represents a new and open internet standard for hard money. Nowadays, with the increasing awareness about bitcoin’s superior properties, it is increasingly being adopted by global financial institutions as pristine collateral, a longer-term store of value, and unstoppable money. We believe that bitcoin was not formed in a vacuum. Like any other technology, bitcoin was invented to fix problems; in this case, the global economic problem.
Indonesia represents the fourth-largest population in the world, with 60% of the citizens owning smartphones. As a country that has experienced hyperinflations in the past, it is crucial for Indonesians to understand what bitcoin stands for. Most Indonesians at the moment see and treat bitcoin as a get-rich-quick scheme. Due to lack of information and comprehensive education in Bahasa Indonesia, many have fallen into scams that are associated with the words bitcoin, blockchain, ”crypto” and mining.
Indonesians wanting to invest have also struggled with mismanagement and corruption. Over the years, we’ve seen cases of fund managers and property developers (similar to the crypto space) who were unable to deliver on their promises and failed to return their customers’ money. This has happened both in the private sector and also in government. News of these cases can easily be found online, both in Indonesian and in English. Even some of Indonesia’s Covid-19 relief funds were embezzled. For these reasons, Indonesians desperately need savings that not only perform, but are also trustworthy.
For years, Indonesians have preferred savings in gold and property; now bitcoin, a better alternative, has dawned. Since Covid-19, all of the other markets have experienced stagnation. The latest government bond SR015 yields 5.1%. The economy was declared to be in a recession since Q3 2020, and is currently trying to climb out of the recession. In the midst of this, bitcoin continues to gain traction, with an approximate 90% gain YTD (October 2021) as an indicator of its dominating performance.
We believe the majority of Indonesians will leapfrog from gold and property markets straight into digital assets (bypassing bonds and securities). This would be similar to how most Indonesians bypassed the use of PCs and most adopted Android smartphones. The government data shows that the number of people in the digital assets space already reached 6.5 million people at the end of May 2021, way more than the 5.4 million people in the stock market. 20 years of user growth in the stock market was easily surpassed by 1 year of user growth in the digital assets space.
Number of smartphone users in Indonesia from 2017 to 2020 with forecasts until 2026. Source: Statista
Indonesia Bitcoin Conference: A Leap For Better Education
There are many challenges for bitcoin adoption as the best savings technology in the country. It is not easy to understand Bitcoin, and requires a multidisciplinary approach. The Indonesia Bitcoin Conference is a way for Indonesians to get proper information and education about Bitcoin. This conference features speakers from Indonesia and abroad such as Saifedean Ammous, Robert Breedlove and Danny Taniwan.
With topics such as the future of crypto exchanges, mining, retiring with bitcoin, Lightning Network, and bitcoin through the islamic lense, we hope to change the mindset of Indonesians about bitcoin.
The Indonesia Bitcoin Conference will happen on October 31, 2021, the same date as when Satoshi Nakamoto published his Bitcoin whitepaper as the beginning of the monetary revolution.
Visit the conference website for ticketing information: http://indonesiabitcoinconference.com
This is a guest post by Konsultan BTC . Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.