Indonesian Fisherman Confused To Learn He’s Part of a Fintech TAM Model
A fisherman with no bank account discovers he’s part of a crypto fintech TAM. Startup says it makes sense. He says he just wants to catch fish.
FLORES — 53-year-old fisherman Pak Made has discovered that he is part of a Total Addressable Market (TAM) for a Jakarta-based fintech startup offering blockchain-integrated micro-savings accounts for “underserved rural consumers.”
“I was just fixing my net when a university graduate showed up and asked if I’d ever considered storing my savings in crypto,” Made said. “I told him I store them in a woven plastic bag behind the rice sacks. He wrote something in a tablet and said, ‘Perfect.’”
Pak Made, who earns roughly IDR 35,000 a day selling reef fish to a local warung, was informed that he represents “a key part of the 280 million–strong consumer base ripe for disruption.” The news has sent shockwaves through his coastal village of Larantuka, where most phones double as flashlights.
“It’s strange,” said Ibu Sari, who runs the local convenience stand. “We still trade in cash and sometimes fish, but someone from Jakarta said we were ‘digitally primed.’
The startup in question, called CoinDuit, is preparing to raise a $12 million seed round on the back of what it calls a “revolutionary platform for financial inclusion.” The founder, 27-year-old ex-consultant Rian Aditya, defended the decision to include Pak Made and millions like him in the company’s official TAM figure.
“Our model is airtight,” Rian explained. “We took Indonesia’s total population, removed children under ten, and assumed everyone else either has a smartphone or will soon borrow one from a cousin.”
Pressed on how they accounted for financial literacy, digital access, and banking trust, Rian pulled up a WhatsApp screenshot from a family group that included a photo of someone holding a phone near a goat. “That’s behavioral proof. Look, he’s using TikTok. He’s ready.”
CoinDuit’s pitch deck claims a reachable market of 68 million “financially curious rural consumers,” though internal Teams messages later revealed the figure was derived using a combination of Google search suggestions and a high-conviction gut feeling.
Back in Flores, villagers remain skeptical of their newfound role in the fintech ecosystem. “They asked me to scan a QR code to claim my onboarding bonus,” said Made. “I told them my phone can’t scan. It barely rings.”
When asked about crypto, several residents referred to it as “that thing from the sinetron where someone lost all their money.” Others believed it might be a new kind of fishing net. “If crypto helps me catch more tuna, I’m open to it,” said one younger fisherman.
CoinDuit representatives insist that these reactions are part of the “early trust barrier” and plan to overcome resistance using a robust influencer strategy involving Jakarta-based lifestyle creators who do not speak Bahasa Keo.
Meanwhile, local authorities have asked the company to at least repair the village internet tower before promising “liquidity farming” to people who still farm actual rice.
We write the headlines that haven’t happened yet, but probably will. Subscribe to The Rambutan for Southeast Asia’s sharpest fake news.