Volcanos, Bitcoin and remittances: A Tongan lord plans for financial security
A former member of the Tongan Parliament is behind a proposal to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender in the tiny Pacific nation of Tonga, following in the footsteps of El Salvador. It’s due for a vote in Parliament in May and the early signs are encouraging.
Mataʻiʻulua ʻi Fonuamotu, Lord Fusitu’a told Cointelegraph that plans are in motion to use state-run volcano mining facilities to create wealth in Tonga.
Tonga has 21 volcanoes. “That means one volcano for every 5,000 people.” He owns one volcano himself through his family’s hereditary land rights.
The proposed Bitcoin mining operations would use the geothermal energy of the volcanoes to generate power.
“It takes two megawatts of electricity to service 5,000 people. So 40,000 megawatts will service the entire national grid. Each volcano produces 95,000 megawatts at all times leaving much to spare,” says Lord Fusitu’a.
“We will give every family hash huts. But, this is only 20,000 units, as there are only 20,000 families.”
He suggests each volcano can generate $2,000 of Bitcoin each day, to be “gifted” to each family by the Tongan government.
For an Island of 120,000 people, economies of scale matter and the average person stands to benefit greatly.
Tonga needs $26 million for the cabling to build the operation, but the World Bank said Tonga didn’t have the collateral for that funding.
Nevertheless, Tonga managed to raise the money through a Least Developed Countries grant. Given Lord Fusitu’a's influence in local politics — and the fact he claims to own a volcano himself — he might just pull it off.
Lord Fusitu’a also claimed to have negotiated a gratis offer of the mining tech, but he has not revealed the terms of the deal. Chinese companies such as Bitmain have much market
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