Recently, on Saturday, February 1, 2025, a technical glitch in Google’s currency converter caused widespread confusion by displaying an inaccurate exchange rate of IDR 8,170 per US dollar. This rate was significantly lower than the official exchange rate published by Bank Indonesia (BI) and other financial data providers.
On that date, the selling rate of the rupiah was at IDR 16,340.30 per US dollar, while the buying rate stood at IDR 16,177.70 per US dollar, according to Bank Indonesia’s data. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported a 0.3% depreciation of the rupiah, closing at IDR 16,304 per US dollar on the same day.
This glitch caused the rupiah’s exchange rate to appear 50% lower than it should have been, leading to widespread confusion as many services and applications relied on this data for their currency exchange transactions.
In response, Bank Indonesia clarified that the exchange rate displayed by Google was inaccurate and urged the tech giant to rectify the error promptly. “We are coordinating with Google Indonesia to address this discrepancy and ensure the issue is resolved as soon as possible,” said Ramdan Denny Prakoso, Head of BI’s Communication Department, as reported by Detik.
Interestingly, some individuals, particularly those active in crypto transactions with MoonPay, took advantage of this glitch. At the time, the purchase of USDT through MoonPay was recorded at IDR 8,529.66.
This figure was significantly cheaper than the actual rate, which should have been around IDR 16,xxx or double the amount displayed by MoonPay.
Remarkably, transactions or purchases of 1 USDT at a 50% discount were successful, allowing lucky users to double their profits by simply selling 1 USDT.
Shortly after this incident surfaced, MoonPay quickly corrected its system, restoring the accurate exchange rate in a short time. Unfortunately, there is no detailed information from MoonPay regarding this matter. However, the worst-case scenario would involve losses for the company, though transactions made during the glitch might be canceled. Users who already withdrew their funds may have genuinely profited.
Meanwhile, Google resolved the glitch in a relatively short time. What do you think? Was this a real advantage? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
