KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — The fate of Harapan Coin, the first ever political fundraising platform utilising cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, will be decided by the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council.

Its co-founder Khalid Abdul Samad told Malay Mail that originally Harapan Coin was a personal project meant to raise funds for opposition parties to be used against Barisan Nasional during the 14th General Election.

"Since the election is over, there’s been no discussion regarding the status of Harapan Coin (and whether we will continue it or not). At that time, it was a method to raise funds from cryptocurrency users.

"Now I think I need to bring the matter up to the PH Presidential Council’s next meeting because it was originally my personal project to find novel ways of obtaining donations for the coalition and for Amanah,” said the newly appointed Federal Territories Minister.

Asked whether the coin was legal due to restrictions placed on cryptocurrency trading by Bank Negara Malaysia, Khalid denied that any trading or speculation was involved.

He explained that Harapan Coin only provided a platform for cryptocurrency users to donate for the cause using cryptocurrency that they already owned.

The fund has collected US$2,157.98 at the time of publication.

Khalid had used the monies to pay for the http://harapancoin.com system administrator and salary for a PH secretariat staff.

The idea behind Harapan Coin started in January 2017 by its team leader Aziz M. With him are Yi Ling who handles its marketing and public relations, blockchain developer K. Pathmanathan, web developer Anthony R. and graphic designer Awang Y.

In October that year, Aziz and his team met with Khalid and they managed to convince him to hop on board.

The first day of 2018 saw the pre-sale launch while the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) was held from April 4 to April 19 this year.

Unlike Khalid, the five team members refused to divulge their personal photographs as they feared reprisals from then ruling Barisan Nasional regime.

In a Youtube video on the website, Khalid explained that any donation collected will be split into three: 30 per cent to the system administrator (Aziz M and team), 30 per cent to Khalid’s Parti Amanah Negara and the remaining 40 per cent will be handed to the PH Coalition.