- Bitcoin advocates have met with Indonesian officials, including Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to propose creating a national Bitcoin reserve.
- The proposal suggests using Bitcoin mining as a sovereign strategy to promote long-term economic stability by leveraging the country’s abundant geothermal and hydroelectric energy.
- The presentation emphasised the need for widespread education on Bitcoin and was made just days after the country’s Finance Ministry increased taxes on cryptocurrency transactions and mining.
Indonesian officials have held formal talks with Bitcoin (BTC) advocates about creating a BTC national reserve.
The proposal was presented during a meeting at the office of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, according to Bitcoin Indonesia.
The group pitched Bitcoin mining as a sovereign strategy, highlighting its potential to support long-term economic stability. “We explored a bold idea: using Bitcoin mining as a national reserve strategy,” Bitcoin Indonesia said on X.
The presentation touched on multiple areas. Chief among them is leveraging the country’s geothermal and hydroelectric energy resources to mine Bitcoin.
The group also stressed education initiatives as a foundation for broader adoption. One vice-presidential staffer reportedly supported that view, stating that “Indonesia must also continue to educate about Bitcoin in the future.”
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A Case For Long-Term Strength
Indonesia has a US$1.4T (AU$2.15T) economy, being the world’s fourth most populous nation with over 280 million people.
Although its inflation and debt levels remain relatively stable, 0.76% and 39%, respectively, the Bitcoin advocates changed the pitch, framing their proposal around long-term strength rather than immediate macro risk or the collapse of the US dollar, etc.
As part of the presentation, they included Michael Saylor’s lofty projections of Bitcoin hitting US$13M (AU$19M) in a base case and US$49M (AU$75M) in a bull case by 2045.
It’s worth noting the meeting took place just days after the country’s Finance Ministry hiked taxes on the crypto sector, as per a report from Reuters, with income tax on crypto transactions via domestic exchanges rising from 0.1% to 0.21%, while trades on offshore platforms now face a 1% levy, up from 0.2%. VAT on mining doubled from 1.1% to 2.2%.
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