Forex Trading in Indonesia • Forex Strategies • Benzinga
With a rapidly growing economy and a rapid spread of technology, more and more traders and forex brokers are turning to the island nation of Indonesia as the next big forex trading sphere. If you’ve ever wanted to trade forex as a resident of Indonesia, an Indonesian citizen or a traveler, our guide will help…
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With a rapidly growing economy and a rapid spread of technology, more and more traders and forex brokers are turning to the island nation of Indonesia as the next big forex trading sphere. If you’ve ever wanted to trade forex as a resident of Indonesia, an Indonesian citizen or a traveler, our guide will help you get started.
Table of Contents
Get Started with Forex in Indonesia
The spread of both domestic and international online brokers offering service to Indonesian trades has greatly expanded the availability of forex trading. To get started with forex, use the following basic steps to open an account.
Find a stable internet connection. Fast, reliable internet service is a must-have when trading forex. If you don’t already have a device connected to the internet, find one with a consistent connection and service before moving forward.
Open a brokerage account. You cannot buy and sell currencies directly in Indonesia. Instead, you must work through a forex broker, who services your trades on your behalf in exchange for a small fee.
The Financial Services Authority of Indonesia has recently introduced a series of new laws to crack down on local brokers and punish dishonest advertising and excessive commission charges. As a result, the forex market of Indonesia is now well-regulated, and you may safely work with a licensed domestic or international broker servicing the Indonesian market.
Indonesian authorities warn, however, not every international broker offering services to Indonesian residents is properly authorized — the government recommends Indonesian traders work with domestic brokers. If you aren’t sure if a broker is licensed, visit the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia’s TRUST+ website.
Download your platform. Depending on the broker you choose, you might need to download a 3rd-party trading application like MetaTrader 4 or 5. Be sure that your platform of choice is compatible with your broker before you download it.
Fund your account. After your account is opened, you must deposit trading funds into your brokerage account. Most Indonesian brokers support electronic bank transfers and the use of digital wallets like Perfect Money to fund your account.
If you are a follower of the Islamic faith, you may want to choose a “swap-free” account. These accounts do not accumulate interest in overnight positions, which is compliant with Sharia Law. About 87% of Indonesian residents profess the Muslim faith, so every broker operating in Indonesia is compelled by law to offer swap-free accounts.
Place your 1st trade. After your funds have cleared and your account is fully opened, it’s time to place your currency trade.
Indonesia Forex Trading Strategies
The majority of Indonesian traders use a strategy called “technical analysis” to influence their forex trades. When a trader uses technical analysis, he or she looks at price data and candlestick patterns to predict how a currency will move in the future.
In this section, we’ll introduce you to a few technical analysis strategies you can use when formulating your unique trading strategy.
Return to Mean Strategy
The return to mean trading strategy is based on a simple concept: When a currency fluctuates outside of its standard range of values, it will soon return to the mean. Using a trendline, calculate the mean value and how your currency of choice is increasing or decreasing in value over time. When the currency value moves outside of the standard mean, a buy or sell signal may be triggered.
Triple Moving Average Crossover
The triple moving average crossover strategy is used by longer-term traders looking for a currency that will steadily increase in value over time. To begin, choose a range of time, for example, 21 days. Then, calculate the average closing price for this period. For each day that a successive bar moves in the same direction as the mean trend, calculate a new average. A buy or sell signal may be triggered when the average mean changes patterns or begins a new trend.
Reversal Candles
Short-term currency traders often hunt for reversal candles to capitalize on short-term movements in price. A reversal candle is a candlestick that indicates that a currency’s movement trend might reverse in direction. For example, if a currency is steadily rising in value, it will continue to rise until a reversal candle is triggered — the trader would then consider this a “sell” signal and close out of his or her position. Reversal candles may be bullish or bearish depending on their placement and form.
Forex Trading Example in Indonesia
Let’s take a look at an example of how forex trading works as an Indonesian trader.
Imagine that you believe that the Australian dollar (AUD) will soon rise in relation to the Indonesian rupiah (IDR). You deposit $100 million IDR into your account and convert the entire lot into AUD. At this time, 1 IDR is equal to about .0001 AUD. After the transaction is complete, you’re left with about $10,000 AUD.
A few weeks later, you see that Australia has shown exceptional GDP growth — and that the value of the Australian dollar has risen in comparison to nearly every other currency. So, 1 IDR is now equal to only 0.00008 AUD. You decide that now is the time to sell, and you convert your entire lot of AUD back to IDR.
At the conclusion of the transaction, you’re left with $125 million IDR. In this example, you’ve gained a profit of $25 million IDR by strategically exchanging your currencies and selling them back when the value of your native currency had fallen.
Making Money with Forex in Indonesia
There are currently no restrictions on the amount of money that forex traders in Indonesia can bring in through their trading. Unlike some other countries, there are also no limitations on the amount of money you can deposit into your international brokerage account. This means that there are no limitations on the amount of profit that you can earn as a forex trader in Indonesia.
Though Indonesia’s forex market is relatively well-regulated, there are a few steps that you can take to protect your investment and prevent yourself from losing money:
Work only with licensed brokers. Though domestic Indonesian brokers are required to adhere to a select set of laws, not every international broker operating in Indonesia offers these guarantees. Only work with trusted, reliable brokers to protect your financial interests when trading.
Only trade major currency pairs. If you choose to keep the IDR as your base currency, we recommended that you only trade major currencies — like the USD, AUD and GBP. This will ensure that you’re able to quickly exit your position when you need to.
Practice your trading strategy first. Before you invest any of your own money, open a demo account and perfect your trading strategy.
Best Online Forex Brokers in Indonesia
As a trader in Indonesia, you have a wide range of forex brokers to choose from before you trade. If you aren’t sure where you want to open your account, consider a few of our top choices below.
Account Minimum
$100 USD (or equivalent)
Pairs Offered
69
Account Minimum
$50 USD
Pairs Offered
47
Account Minimum
$50 USD
Pairs Offered
47
1 Minute Review
Though Australian and British traders might know eToro for its easy stock and mobile trading, the broker is now expanding into the United States with cryptocurrency trading. U.S. traders can begin buying and selling both major cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin and Ethereum) as well as smaller names (like Tron Coin and Stellar Lumens).
eToro offers traders the opportunity to invest their assets into premade portfolios or cryptocurrencies, similar to services offered by robo-advisors through traditional brokers. Though eToro isn’t a one-stop-shop for everything an investor needs, its easy-to-use platform and low spreads is a great way to enter the cryptocurrency market.
Best For
International Forex/CFD Traders
New cryptocurrency traders looking for an easy-to-use platform
Traders who want to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on-the-go
Pros
Simple platform that is easy to master
CopyTrader feature that allows new traders to copy the same strategies used by professionals
Virtual dummy account that gives you $100,000 to practice trades
Cons
U.S. traders currently limited to cryptocurrencies
Only 15 major coins available to trade
Account Minimum
100 EURO
Pairs Offered
50+
Account Minimum
100 EURO
Pairs Offered
50+
1 Minute Review
A fully regulated broker with a presence in Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, British Virgin Islands, Australia and Japan, Avatrade deals with mainly forex and CFDs on stocks, commodities, indexes, forex, cryptocurrencies, etc. This brokerage is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and began offering its services in 2006. It offers multiple trading platforms and earns mainly through spreads.
Best For
Beginners
Advanced traders
Traders looking for a well-diversified portfolio
Pros
Controlled by regulatory agencies of multiple countries
Choice offered in terms of trading platforms
Support available in 14 languages and trading platforms in 20 languages
Practice/demo account available for trying out
Breadth of trading assets
Cons
Does not accept customers from the U.S. as it isn’t regulated in the U.S.
Transferring funds to the account may take up to five days; withdrawals could take up to 10 days
Account Minimum
100 of your selected base currency
Pairs Offered
80+
Account Minimum
100 of your selected base currency
Pairs Offered
80+
1 Minute Review
FOREX.com is a one-stop-shop for forex traders. With a massive range of tradable currencies, low account minimums and an impressive trading platform, FOREX.com is an excellent choice for brokers searching for a home base for their currency trading. New traders and seasoned veterans alike will love FOREX.com’s extensive education and research center that provides free, informative forex trading courses at multiple skill levels. While FOREX.com is impressive, remember that it isn’t a standard broker. You can’t invest in the stock or bond market through your FOREX.com and you cannot open an account with tax advantages. The confusing pricing and margin structures may also be overwhelming for new forex traders.
Best For
MetaTrader 4 users
Beginner forex traders
Active forex traders
Pros
Impressive, easy-to-navigate platform
Wide range of education and research tools
Access to over 80 currencies to buy and sell
Leverage available up to 50:1
Cons
Cannot buy and sell other securities (like stocks and bonds)
Confusing margin requirements that vary by currency
Limited customer support options
Cannot open an IRA or other retirement account
Forex Terminology
When you first get started in the world of forex trading, it can be confusing to understand what brokers and traders are talking about because forex uses its own language. Familiarizing yourself with some of the most common terms can make it easier to navigate your brokerage platform and the educational resources you use to trade.
Pip: A pip is the smallest possible unit of any given currency. In most cases, 1 pip is equal to 0.0001 of any currency.
Order: An order is a set of instructions that you give to your broker to tell them what currency you’d like to buy or sell and at what price point.
Lot size: Your lot size is the total number of units of currency that you’re buying or selling. For example, if you place an order to sell $10,000 AUD, your lot size is equal to 10,000.
Call: A margin call is a major risk of trading with leverage. If you borrow money on margin to trade and the value of your portfolio decreases, your lender might require you to deposit more money into your account to maintain your position through a margin call. Margin calls can quickly cause you to lose money or wipe out your earnings, so use leverage with care.
Trading from Indonesia
With the near-ubiquitous spread of the internet, nearly anyone can get started forex trading — no matter where they live. But before you place your first currency order, be sure to do your research and develop your trading strategy before you invest. Taking just a few days to do your homework and work with a demo account can mean tons of money saved in the long run.
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These new pairs have been available since July 1st, 2019 and provide an excellent opportunity to diversify your clients’ portfolios and increase their exposure to this vibrant 24/7 market.
Asset
Typical Spread
Leverage
Margin
Min Nominal Trade Size
NEOUSD
1.5% Over-market
2:01
50%
10
EOSUSD
2% Over-market
2:01
50%
10
MIOTAUSD
1.5% Over-market
2:01
50%
10
To unify their cryptocurrency instrument labels, They are relabeling their existing Ethereum, Ripple & Litecoin instruments, by replacing the existing instruments with new USD labelled ones:
Asset
Old Symbol
New Symbol
RIPPLE
XRP
XRPUSD
ETHEREUM
ETH
ETHUSD
LITECOIN
LTC_Mini
LTCUSD
These new pairs have also been available since July 1st,
The trading conditions for each one is identical to those of the older respective assets they replace.
Effective immediately, new positions are only available on the new pairs.
Avatrade Clients will not be able to open new positions on the old assets, but those already open will remain unaffected until July 29th.
Existing positions on XRP, ETH and Litecoin-mini that remain open on July 29th will be automatically replaced with corresponding positions on the new pairs, , at the same opening price and at no cost to clients.
as any broker that values their clients would do , Avatrade makes sure that the clients will not be affected by the change.
Neteller one of the most known Digital fiat currency wallet provider , has started allowing its users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies including BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, and LTC.
They do this on the large scale with a pilot in 10 countries and soon another 50 countries to join . They understand that if you do this effort it will only succeed if you can do this on a global scale.
founded in 1999, Paysafe Financial Services entered the market with the mission to provide an online alternative to the known traditional payment methods.
Most of the traders aiming us now neteller as one of the companies through which we made our deposits and if we had any profits also our withdrawals. A couple of years ago they left the Forex and Binary industry behind since the charge-back issue became just too expensive.
But as any companies knows, if you do not adept you die. The binary option market is all but dead and the Forex industry has moved also into the directions of the cryptocurrencies. thus, neteller understands that this is where the future is.
So Lasts week they announced that they are now offering a wallet with buy and sell cryptocurrency options.
As of today, Neteller users can buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies via a recognized cryptocurrency exchange including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, ethereum classic and litecoin, purchased using any one of 28 fiat currencies available in the Neteller wallet.
It may not seem so exciting but for many users that love this service it actually is. More and more currencies will be added making them an true exchange in the near future.
Now one is able to fund their neteller account through many different means (Mobile, Epay, Paysafecard, local bank deposits, and bitcoin)
We think that will make the threshold for many people, who would want to buy or sell cryptocurrencies, lower. This in return is a good thing for the overall acceptance of the cryptocurrencies in the mainstream of every day life.
The rates offered are somewhat in the lower middle of the current market making them go for the save route. The average market rates on the major cryptocurrency exchanges differ all in all not that much anyways, as this is not the main reason to choose to buy Bitcoin through Neteller
The minimum cryptocurrency purchase or sale amount is “approximately equal to 10 EUR,” the firm clarified, adding that the maximum amount depends on the transaction limits associated with each account.
When You open an account with Neteller you have to choose your default currency. This is of course for most people in accordance on their geographical locations, people in Britain will go for the pound most Europeans go for the euro and pretty much the rest of the work goes for the US Dollar, thou other currencies are available
The fee is 1.5 percent for purchasing and selling cryptocurrencies from wallets with EUR or USD as the default currency.
The fee rises to 3 percent for wallets with other default currencies.
Neteller | Why is this a good move for neteller and one that we should expect from other online Payment providers as well ?
At this moment till last week Neteller users can pay, get paid on thousands of sites, and send money around the world through their system.
The company claims to have “millions of point-of-sale, ATM and online locations” for users to withdraw or spend their cash.
Last July 25, Paysafe ( which as you remember is the company that owns Neteller and Skrill) announced that another digital wallet provider in its group, Skrill ( formerly known as moneybookers), started allowing customers to “instantly buy and sell cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin, using any one of the 40+ fiat currencies available in the Skrill wallet.”
We could now see that this was like their test run on this concept.
We do not know the numbers that Skrill produced since they offered this service but it must have been encouraging enough for Paysafe to include their flagship brand in this endevour.
We will see where this leads but we are hopeful that this is the next step in global acceptance to the cryptocurrency revolution. Let me know what you think
The currency trading industry and now also the cryptocurrency trading industry have gone through enormous volatile times the last couple of years. Now with trump and its trade wars. The fast rise and somewhat recline of the cryptocurrencies and the fast pace of international politics and economies that create high rises and steep fall of the currencies.
So what does it all mean and what can you do before start to trade on these news headlines.
Good brokers like LegacyFX and UBCFX provide the traders with the latest market news and updates on a continuous basis but if you are new to trading you still have no idea what to do with this.
You start by understanding that the involves a high degree of risk, including the risk of losing you hard earned money. Besides the ones that were lucky enough to have bought Bitcoin a couple of years back and cashed in in the end of 2017, most people don’t get rich overnight.
You have to understand that you only trade with money that you are able to lose, going hungry because you want to open a trade is not the right wy to go about it.
So, What is Forex?
You should by now understand that the value of currencies goes up and down every day.
This in general becomes apparent the moment you go on vacation and what you bought last year with your money now is not the same amount you get today at the exchange.
This is on a large scale, what a lot of people do not know is that there is a foreign exchange market – or ‘Forex’ for short – or “FX” for even shorter, where you can potentially make a profit from the movement of these currencies.
The most known Trader is George Soros who made a billion dollars in a day by trading currencies. This is of course on a scale that we are not able to reach and you need a huge amount of money to begin with. Still he made a billion in one day!!
The internet has played a huge part in making trading in currencies accessible for the masses. You also do not need huge amounts of money to actually do this. Now keep in mind that if you make 10% profit on your investment but the investment was just $50 you basically just end up with $55. still no bank will give you 10% interest on your money.
Many people and I am talking millions are now trading every day, most do this on the side and don’t do this as a full-time job, but there are today enough people that are full time traders and making enough money to live comfortably.
Retail forex market needed Brokers
The Forex market for the retail market was born, it started around 15 years ago to become more serious as technologies advanced and the stream of information became almost instant, this is important for trading as one second can make the difference between profit or loss.
So, the moment the technology was there the people that wanted to trade were there all that was needed were the Forex brokers that offered the platform for trading.
There are latterly hundreds of companies of not thousands that offer this service and there are good ones like LegacyFX and there are scams (these tend to not last long)
Forex explained in short
The Forex market is the largest financial market on the planet and has been for many years now.
Its average daily trading volume is more than $4 trillion. (just let that number sink in for a second). Of this total amount around 5% is the retail market meaning traders like you and me. Still 5% of 4 Trillion is still a number with a lot of zeros behind it.
If you compare that with the New York Stock Exchange, which only has an average daily trading volume of $55 billion. You truly see the size.
To give you another example:
if you were to put ALL of the world’s equity and futures markets together, their combined trading volume would still only equal a 25% of the daily Forex market. Insane right?
Why does this even matter?
It matters because there are so many buyers and sellers that transaction prices are kept low. To explain how trading the Forex market is different than trading stocks, here are a few major benefits.
Most Brokers don’t charge commissions – you pay only the bid/ask spreads.
There’s 24hour trading – you decide when to trade and how to trade.
You can focus on your currencies and become experts in only those pairs that you follow instead of following and selecting out of 5000 stocks
You can trade on leverage, (something to be very aware of as it can magnify potential gains but also your losses).
Forex is accessible for almost everyone– you don’t need a lot of money to get started
In the Forex market you can trade on Demo accounts to learn before you commit your money
How is Forex traded?
The mechanics of a trade are virtually identical to those in other markets. The only difference is that you’re buying one currency and selling another at the same time.
This is also the reason as to why the currencies are quoted in pairs, like EUR/USD or USD/GBP.
The exchange rate represents the purchase price between the two currencies.
Example:
The EUR/GBP rate represents the number of GBP one EUR can buy (relevant now with all the Brexit issues going on) . If you think the Euro will increase in value against the British Pound, you buy Euros with British Pounds. If the exchange rate rises, you sell the Euros back, and you cash in your profit.
Now the same works for strading Bitcoin, ethereum, Litecoin or other cryptocurrencies. this has become an entire new market and has introduced many people to Forex . you should here be also aware that trading cryptocurrencies is like regular trading so you will be able to lose great sums of money.
the Best thing i found about trading cryptocurrencies is that the Leverage by default tends to be very low which makes the risk of losing it all much smaller.
Sounds simply enough?
Why does not everyone Trade.
The same could be asked as to why not everyone plays poker, you can make money. The comparison between the 2 is actually closer than you might think.
All traders that are successful will tell you that 80% of successful trading is psychology and the other 20% is research. It takes time to get the research down, but it can take a lifetime to master the psychology.
People tend to do things differently when real money is on the line and are accepting losses in the hope that the trend will reverse or taking out profit too early because they don’t want to lose what they just have gained. In short, the psychology is the hard part.
One should be aware that you can loose real money and a lot of it very fast if you don’t know what you are doing.
Now most Good Forex brokers offer some educational tools, some more than others that will teach you how to trade. There is also something that is called social trading that will allow you to follow other traders and see what they are doing in order for you to learn and make money at the same time.
So here are some ground rules for those that look to start trading
Get involved in the market, watch read and listen to the news to understand what is happening
Go through a trading course ( a good one is here)
Open a demo account and trade at least a month (my advice to do this even longer)only on this before you even think about trading with real money.
Check out social trading, there are some options for this, this broker offers this also.
Try with an amount that you are able to afford losing. See this as your tuition money.
Take it slow, don’t become greedy and follow the basic rules
Basic Rules (there are many more but start with these)
The trend is your friend
Don’t add money to a losing position
Don’t trade on too many different currency pairs
Trade only with a good broker
Don’t open to many positions (no one needs 100 positions a day)
Develop your strategy and stick to it.
Know that NO ONE is 100% of the times right, everyone loses some.
Last but not least, don’t trade with money you cannot afford to lose.