Government Backed Monetary System Launched In Indonesia By Kinesis

Kinesis, a gold-backed monetary system based in the Cayman Islands, has launched a Sharia-compliant version of its product in Indonesia, setting the stage for wider adoption of its solution in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. world.

The product, PosGO Syariah, is described as the first mobile ecosystem company in Indonesia to comply with Islamic law. Delivered as a mobile app, PosGO is a digitized physical gold trading platform that also allows users to make real-time peer-to-peer gold and fiat currency transfers. The platform also offers a payment gateway and a “Gold Mecca” community savings program for Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage.

Importantly, PosGO will be launched in partnership with PT Pos, the Indonesian government’s postal service and the country’s largest non-bank institution. The reach of PT PoS makes Kinesis’ physical gold-based digital product accessible to the masses.

ABX, ICDX and PT Bullion Ecosystem International have also partnered with Kinesis to launch the new initiative.

Kinesis announced Thursday in Jakarta that the new product has received the seal of approval from the federal government and the country’s Sharia oversight board. Being fully Sharia compliant means that the new product is not a debt-based system where interest is calculated and accrued.

Kinesis CEO Thomas Coughlin said that PosGO will allow more Indonesians to use gold as currency:

“People are increasingly moving away from traditional currencies and I am humbled to present Kinesis as a robust and scalable solution for digitalised and mobilised gold as a currency.”

Indonesia has lagged behind other countries in terms of digital asset adoption after the Jakarta government announced a blanket ban on crypto payments in 2017, stating it was Haram, or forbidden in Islam. However, authorities have recently taken a more neutral stance on the asset class. in the country.

Indonesia plunged into recession in the second half of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The recession ended 22 years of uninterrupted growth for emerging markets as tourism collapsed. With so many citizens feeling the strain of the post-COVID-19 order, Kinesis aims to provide Indonesians with a fairer way to store and exchange wealth compared to the traditional fiat system.