Tonga to adopt bitcoin as legal tender and geothermal mining


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Investing.com – A former member of parliament in Tonga, has shared a timeline for the country’s plan to pass the . The latter is inspired by the approach of El Salvador.

The first step is remittances, the second is legal tender, the third is bitcoin mining, and the fourth is the conversion of national funds into bitcoins, which will enable the country to totally convert to bitcoin.

“Let’s say the legal tender bill is passed in early or mid-October. Then the bill goes to the palace office for three to four weeks. Whether or not Her Majesty will give royal ascendancy to the mid-November.”

The bill would then be sent to the government for publication during the second week of January 2023.

Regarding the coming into force of the Legal Tender Bill: “Conservatively, the earliest realistic date is early or mid-February as the activation date. It could be much, much earlier if the last three steps are rushed – something I’ve seen before.”

When it comes to bitcoin mining operations in the country, the potential is staggering. Tonga has 21 volcanoes which produce more than 2,000 megawatts per year. The national grid consumes 40 MW per year, meaning Tonga has “1960 MW of unused potential”.

An adapted infrastructure

To ensure proper functioning, the country’s infrastructure must be up to scratch. This would be the case for the internet and mining operations thanks to an agreement concluded more than eight years ago with the World Bank. The agreement with the World Bank was put in place to “prepare the future” of their internet infrastructure.

Bitcoin mining could take place “as early as Q3 2023” and the government is likely to be on board. “Mining operations could be operated by the private sector or as a joint venture with the government. It might need to create a new state-owned company to get it off the ground.”

Currently, a few interested bitcoin mining companies are setting up testing infrastructure.

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