Bali Warns Tourists Against Using Crypto as a Form of Payment

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Cryp­to enthu­si­asts seek­ing sun and sand in one of Indonesia’s most pop­u­lar tourist des­ti­na­tions have been warned against using dig­i­tal assets as a form of payment.

Those using cryp­to to pay for accom­mo­da­tion, restau­rants, activ­i­ties or shop­ping will face stiff con­se­quences, local media report­ed, quot­ing Bali’s gov­er­nor Wayan Koster.

“For­eign tourists who behave inap­pro­pri­ate­ly, do activ­i­ties that are not allowed in their visa per­mit, use cryp­to as a means of pay­ment and vio­late oth­er pro­vi­sions will be dealt with firm­ly,” he report­ed­ly said.

Fail­ing to com­ply will result in indi­vid­u­als being deport­ed, sanc­tioned, crim­i­nal­ly penal­ized and may also result in the clo­sure of cer­tain busi­ness­es, the gov­er­nor added.

The use of for­eign cur­ren­cies for pay­ment is also pro­hib­it­ed in Indone­sia, as the only valid ten­der is the Indone­sian rupiah.

Accord­ing to sep­a­rate media reports, crypto’s use as pay­ment for cer­tain goods and ser­vices has been on the rise in Semi­nyak, a major tourist hotspot to the south.

Koster has tak­en a tougher stance towards for­eign­ers. Ear­li­er this month, the gov­er­nor pro­posed a “quo­ta sys­tem” to con­trol entry to the island due to con­cerns about tourist behavior.

The resort island has been attempt­ing to walk a fine line by allow­ing tourists back to its shores in the post-COVID era, while man­ag­ing the sud­den influx of new visitors. 

Indone­sia shut its bor­ders to out­siders back in March 2020 and remained closed for near­ly two years before open­ing up again slow­ly, begin­ning in Feb­ru­ary of last year. 

From 2020 to 2022, for­eign tourism in Indone­sia fell over 75% from pre-pan­dem­ic fig­ures, severe­ly impact­ing many tourism businesses. 

In some cas­es, busi­ness­es, with sup­port from Jakar­ta — the country’s cap­i­tal, are lever­ag­ing dig­i­tal assets, specif­i­cal­ly NFTs, to boost invest­ment and draw for­eign interest.

In 2018, Indone­sia acknowl­edged cryp­to as com­modi­ties, sanc­tion­ing their trad­ing via cen­tral­ized exchanges and allow­ing indi­vid­ual investors to legal­ly hold the asset class.

Yet, accord­ing to 2019 and 2020 reg­u­la­to­ry pro­vi­sions, only 229 such assets are allowed for trade by enti­ties that hold a license and com­ply with Bap­pet­bi — Indonesia’s reg­u­la­to­ry body for futures trading.

Cryp­to as a form of pay­ment, mean­while, is strict­ly prohibited.


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