PANews reported on January 22 that, according to CoinDesk, Indonesia's upcoming general election starting on February 14 could have a decisive impact on the country's booming Crypto Assets industry. While current President Joko Widodo's government had plans to launch a global Crypto Assets program in Indonesia and even set up the world's first digital asset exchange, the next leadership may be less enthusiastic about the space.
The candidates in the general election have varied their stance on Crypto Assets, but their comments provide clues as to where the industry is headed in the future. For example, presidential candidate Anis Baswedan and vice presidential candidate Muhamin Iskandar are relatively silent on Crypto Assets affairs, but they represent the opposition and plan to overhaul existing policies, which could have an impact on the crypto industry. Mu Haiming proposed a tax on crypto transactions in 2022 to increase state revenue and called for stricter regulation. Another pair of candidates, presidential candidate Ganjar Pranovo and his partner Mahford J. MD did not talk about Crypto Assets during the election campaign, but when Non-Fungible Tokens (Non-fungible Tokens) became popular in 2022, the then Governor of Central Java, Ganjar, praised the creativity of Non-fungible Tokens.
The candidate most actively talking about Crypto Assets is Gibran Rakhamin Raqqa, the running mate of current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and the son of President Joko Widodo, who supports digitalization, especially Blockchain and Crypto Assets. He had expressed his desire to train Blockchain and crypto experts to improve Indonesia's technology sector in December, reiterating this during the second official presidential debate. Prabowo also said his government would strengthen oversight of tax compliance for stocks and crypto traders to combat tax evasion.