Fahmi Fadzil, a Malaysian MP and the Communications Director for the Malaysian centre-left coalition party PKR, has urged the government of Malaysia to establish proper regulation of cryptocurrencies before it approves “Harapan Coin- the world’s first crypto-politic ICO,” The Star Online reports.
Fahmi reportedly told reporters in the Parliament lobby Tuesday, November 14th:
“The anonymous nature of cryptocurrency may open us up to a number of issues and we need to wait for guidelines from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in regard of cryptocurrency.”
The Harapan Coin website says the token was, “…created for the purpose of eliciting opposing sentiments against the current governing coalition, in preparation for the coming election,” an election that took place last May.
The coin is the brainchild of co-founder and Malaysian Federal Territories Minister, Khalid Abdul Samad, whose team sought to topple the allegedly corrupt Barisan Nasional party, which, until May, ruled Malaysia for more than 60 years.
The Harapan Coin site says that the project seeks to raise a total of $257 million USD by 2020 through sales of the Harapan token.
And in a video promoting the project, Minister Samad says that five sales have already occurred, that funds are, “safely in my hands.”
Given that the 60-year Barisan Nasional regime was successfully toppled in May, it is unclear what Harapan coin is raising funds for now, and the website has not been updated despite.
The project claims to have already raised $120 million USD, and “ICO phase two” is set to wrap up February 2020.
According to The Star Online, “The paperwork and presentation of the project are expected to be given to BNM (central bank) and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad soon.”
The outlet also claims that, “although the decision and approval from BNM and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council may take a while,” Minister Samad is nonetheless, “…determined to continue proposing the project.”