Universitas Gadjah Mada
Faculty of Economics and Business

Cryptocurrency has become a phenomenon that has attracted a lot of attention recently. Its rapid growth accompanied by various issues in it has become an interesting topic for discussion. as a forum for discussion and sharing between academics and accounting practitioners. The Center for Accounting and Regulatory Studies (PAKAR) under the Accounting Laboratory Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM) on Friday (12/03/2021) held a workshop entitled "What's Up With Cryptocurrency". The workshop aims to open and broaden the knowledge of students, academics, and accounting practitioners in particular, as well as the wider community regarding issues of cryptocurrencies. Discussion of issues related to cryptocurrencies, both from their urgency and from a general and sharia perspective. This webinar was moderated by FEB UGM Lecturer, Dr. Aprilia Beta Suandi, S.E., M.Ec. and presenting speakers, namely Prof. Dian Masyita, Ph.D., Dean of Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia.

The Dean of FEB UGM Prof. Dr. Didi Achjari, M.Com., Ak., CA. gave the opening remarks to start the event. "I thank my accounting laboratory colleagues, today we will study together about cryptocurrencies which has attracted a lot of attention lately, hopefully it will run smoothly and add more insight about cryptocurrencies," said Prof. Didi.

The event after the speech was the presentation of Prof. Dian Masyita on the topic of cryptocurrency. Prof. Dian said that the current environmental conditions tend to have high volatility, and filled with uncertainty. The cause of this is a very varied factor, has a high complexity, and ambiguity.

"The world is changing, technology is changing, life is changing too, people's behavior is changing according to changes that occur consciously or unconsciously. Lifestyle is affected, understanding of economic and financial instruments also develops following the dynamics of inevitable change," said Prof. Dian.

Prof. Dian explained that Bank Indonesia as the payment system authority, prohibits all payment system service providers and Financial Technology providers in Indonesia, both Banks and Non-Bank Institutions, from processing payment transactions with virtual currency. According to him, this is regulated in Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency Regulation Number 7 of 2020.

"Cryptocurrencies that we know today are not legal tender in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia, but as Crypto Assets that can be traded in the Crypto Asset Physical Market," she explained.

Then what is often the question is whether crypto assets can be said to be economic assets. According to Prof. Dian, Crypto assets can be classified as economic assets, because Crypto Assets have a monetary value so that the owner of the Crypto can gain and lose. However, Crypto cannot be said to be a financial asset.

"Criteria as a financial asset are not owned by Crypto Assets such as no counterpart liability, a currency must be issued by a central bank and have a legal tender in a country," she explained.

Cryptocurrency itself according to Prof. Diana has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are, all information about transactions can be known, but there is no access to information about the recipient or sender of the coin, no one can withdraw crypto except the owner, and the system is guaranteed integrity because coins cannot be counterfeited or copied, and payments made in the system cannot be reversed. The downsides are extreme price volatility, frequent targets for tech crimes, and the potential for money laundering due to its anonymity.

In an Islamic perspective, Prof. Dian said that some opinions regarding Cryptocurrencies are not shariah compliance and there are opinions that allow it. The opinion that prohibits is because Cryptocurrencies have no legal basis to operate, and there is no regulatory and supportive authority. According to some Islamic academics who agree, everything can be called money because it is considered a valuable item for the surrounding community and is accepted as a medium of exchange for a certain group of people.

However, among the pros and cons of cryptocurrencies, it turns out that quite a lot of investors invest in crypto. "6.5 million Indonesian people have become investors in crypto assets until May 2021 with a transaction value of IDR 370.4 trillion. Exceeding the number of investors in the capital market, which in May 2021 only amounted to 5.37 million," said Prof. Dian.

"At the end of the day, the winner is a strong digital currency, which is a currency that is owned by a strong country or that has a strong global economic network. The winning (digital) assets are assets that have strong value, the best security, the most accepted by the community, the best ecosystem, the most stable, the best service and bring goodness both felt by the owner and the people around him (social value)", she concluded.

Reportage: Sony Budiarso

Video webinar: https://youtu.be/XmEaJCu4B8w