Tonga's timeline for Bitcoin as legal tender and BTC mining with volcanoes
Lord Fusitu’a, a former member of the Tongan Parliament, has shared a timeline for the country’s plan to adopt Bitcoin (BTC). A Tongan nobleman, Fusitu’a had previously disclosed the four-step plan, a copy of the Salvadoran Bitcoin playbook.
Step one is remittance, two is legal tender, three is Bitcoin mining and four is moving national treasuries into Bitcoin, effectively upgrading the nation onto a Bitcoin standard.
During a Twitter spaces conversation, Fusitu’a shed light on steps two and three, providing a timeline for when these changes could come into place.
Lord Fusitu’a told Cointelegraph:
The bill is then passed back to the government to undergo the “gazette” process. The gazette serves to notify the public of changes. Now, given that prayer week takes place in Tonga in the first week of January, Lord Fusitu’a is confident that by the second week of January 2023 the gazette will be announced.
For the legal tender bill coming into force:
Lord Fusitu’a concluded that “all things being equal let’s say mid-February.”
In terms of the country’s Bitcoin mining operations, the potential is staggering. Tonga has 21 volcanoes (a Bitcoin coincidence) that produce in excess of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power annually. The national grid consumes 40 MW per year, meaning Tonga has “a potential 1960 MW with nothing to do.”
However, in order to mine effectively, the government might need to be on board while internet infrastructure must be robust.
Fortunately, broadband infrastructure will not pose a barrier to expanding internet and mining operations due to a deal made over eight years ago with the international financial institution the World Bank.
Lord Fusitu’a’s mother negotiated the World Bank telecommunications deal which has
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