Blockchain adoption in Indonesia has been growing at a significant rate in the past few years. Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) shows that as of last February, the number of crypto investors in Indonesia had reached 12.4 million people, with transactions of crypto assets totaling around 83.88 trillion IDR.
To put it simply, blockchain has grown more popular in Indonesia, but its use cases have mostly been limited to financial transactions. Tokocrypto, one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the country, thinks it’s time for blockchain to give more benefits to the Indonesian people. It recently launched a research grant program for studies on blockchain and crypto assets.
The program, titled “Tokocrypto Researcher Grants”, is part of the TokoScholars initiative, itself part of the broader Tokocrypto ecosystem which focuses on educating and improving literacy in subjects relating to blockchain. Previously, TokoScholars had already collaborated with institutions like Telkom University and Gadjah Mada University (UGM) to establish innovation centers for blockchain and crypto assets.
Lead of TokoScholars, Dimas Surya Al-Faruq, commented that blockchain has the potential to accelerate development in underdeveloped sectors such as agriculture and healthcare. “It needs deep research to develop blockchain and crypto assets in Indonesia,” Al-Faruq adds.
Tokocrypto Researcher Grants is open to all Indonesians who have completed postgraduate education, or at least are still pursuing a master’s degree. Another key requirement is having published a study that is indexed in the Science and Technology Index (SINTA 2) or other international journals acknowledged by the Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI).
The grant requires all studies to bring benefits to the crypto ecosystem in Indonesia as well as Tokocrypto itself. Participants are free to work as individuals or in groups. As for the research topics, participants must choose one of the following:
- Strength and weakness of Indonesian crypto exchanges: a comparison study of Indonesian crypto exchanges
- What kind of crypto products that Indonesians need from Tokocrypto
- Tax and regulation study of crypto assets in Indonesia: the impact of new tax law and strengthen regulation on the crypto market in Tokocrypto exchanges
Registration for the research proposals is open from May 25 to June 17. Two of the best research proposals will be announced on June 24, and Tokocrypto will grant 50 million IDR for each of the chosen proposals. The research must be completed no later than 3 months until November 2022. More information about Tokocrypto Researcher Grants can be found here.
Header image: olieman.eth via Unsplash.
