The Digital Gold Trading Ecosystem Has Been Running for 5 Years. Clearing Institutions Play a Key Role

Jakarta - The digital-physical gold trading market in Indonesia began in 2019, following the issuance of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory (Bappebti) Regulation No. 4 of 2019 regarding the Technical Provisions for the Implementation of the Digital Physical Gold Market on the Futures Exchange. This regulation states that the Digital Physical Gold Market is an organized physical gold market conducted using electronic facilities facilitated by the Futures Exchange or electronic systems owned by Digital Physical Gold Traders for buying or selling gold, with ownership records digitally (electronically) recorded. 

Similar to other physical commodity markets, the Digital Physical Gold Market ecosystem on the Futures Exchange also includes Clearing Institutions, which, according to the Bappebti regulation, are referred to as Clearing and Guarantee Institutions. This institution is a business entity that organizes and provides systems and/or facilities for clearing and guaranteeing the settlement of transactions.

Dijah Pratiwi, Director of Indonesia Clearing House (ICH), stated, “As a clearing institution, our activities are related to the interests of guaranteeing and settling transactions. Some of our tasks as a clearing institution in the digital-physical gold market through the exchange include, first, performing the Delivery versus Payment (DvP) function, which ensures the consistency of funds in a separate account with the gold ownership records or balances. "Next, we record the movement of funds and gold ownership records, request the Storage Manager to update the gold ownership records held in storage, and perform debiting and crediting the financial accounts of digital gold participants, customers, and trading intermediaries with digital-physical gold traders.”

Meanwhile, Fajar Wibhiyadi, President Director of the Indonesia Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (ICDX), stated, "Clearing Institutions in the digital-physical gold market ecosystem certainly plays an important role. This relates to how we protect the public regarding guaranteeing and settling transactions. At ICDX, as the organizer of the digital-physical gold market, we have an integrated system with the Indonesia Clearing House (ICH). This certainly provides convenience and comfort for the public conducting transactions involving digital (electronic) gold."

Regarding digital physical gold market trading, the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory (Bappebti) previously mentioned that between January and September 2024, the transaction value for digital physical gold reached IDR 41.3 trillion, a significant increase of 1,181 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, which reached IDR 3.22 trillion. In terms of transaction volume, from January to September 2024, it also increased from 35,178.48 kilograms (kg), marking a 945.4 per cent rise compared to the same period last year, which was 3,365.8 kg.