And two for Bitcoin? – If the salvador was the first country to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tenderthere is a good chance that it is not not the last. In the Pacific, the Tonga islands seem to be at the forefront of adopting the king of cryptos into their economy. And as for its Central American counterpart, it is also a question of mining of crypto thanks to geothermal energy from volcanoes.
A year 2023 rich in BTC for Tonga?
The great archipelago of 170 islands which constitutes the Tonga could soon be unified under Bitcoin. It is in any case the dearest wish of Lord Fusitu’aa Tongan nobleman and former Member of Parliament.
From the first declarations of the President Nayib Bukele in June 2021, on the adoption of Bitcoin in the salvadorLord Fusitu’a for his part pushed for the Tonga Islands to follow its example. One 4 step planto imitate the Salvadoran integration of Bitcoin, was even presented by the man of influence.
In a recent conversation on Twitter, reported in particular by Cointelegraph, Lord Fusitu’a gave some precisions on this crypto-adoption:
- the first step will be to facilitate fund transfers in bitcoins;
- then to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender currency ;
- thirdly, to set up a national industry of BTC mining ;
- and finally to adopt Bitcoin as store of value of the national treasury.
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Bitcoin again national currency before the end of the year?
If the Tonga Islands are still in the middle of the first part of this plan, Lord Fusitu’a mainly discussed this February 24 the 2nd and 3rd stages of this “plan B”. Regarding Bitcoin’s vote as legal tender of the country, the noble is convinced that it will happen by the end of this year 2022with an effective implementation in the first weeks of 2023.
“Let’s say the bill [pour faire de Bitcoin une monnaie à cours légal] is adopted in early or mid-October [2022]. Then the bill goes to the palace office for three to four weeks. Her Majesty will give or not the royal ascendancy in mid-November. (…) the most realistic date [pour l’entrée en vigueur de la loi] would correspond to the beginning or the middle of February [2023]. »
Lord Fusitu’a
The former parliamentarian also explained that in his view, an industry of bitcoin mining in Tonga would lead to a real economic transformation of this small country of just over 100,000 inhabitants.
With 21 volcanoes on their territory, there is an enormous potential for 2,000 megawatts (MW) of energy per year owned by Tongans. The islands’ national electricity grid only consumes 40MW per year, which is to say that there would not be than to bend down in terms of energy source for crypto-mining.
Lord Fusitu’a believes that BTC mining could start in the kingdom Tongan “from the third quarter of 2023”. In any case, all this looks like a great good for Tonga. Indeed, the commission savings vis-à-vis money transfer companies such as Western Union would be huge for the small nation: with Bitcoin, 30% of the nation’s GDP would no longer be wasted on these fees payment intermediaries.
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