Tonga, a small Pacific nation, might have Bitcoin as legal cash by the second quarter of 2023, and Bitcoin mining by the third quarter.
Former Tongan parliamentarian Lord Fusitu’a has presented a timeframe for the country’s adoption of Bitcoin (BTC).
Fusitu’a, a Tongan aristocrat, has previously revealed the four-step method, which was based on the Salvadoran Bitcoin playbook.
Remittance is the first step, followed by legal tender, Bitcoin mining, and finally, shifting national treasuries to Bitcoin, thus converting the country to a Bitcoin standard.
Fusitu’a discussed stages two and three during a Twitter space chat, outlining a schedule for when these improvements might be implemented.
Coinscreed spoke with Lord Fusitu’a:
“Let’s say the [legal tender] bill is passed in beginning to mid-October. After this, the bill goes to the palace office for three to four weeks. HM [His Majesty] will either give or not give royal ascent by mid-November.”
After then, the bill is returned to the government for the “gazette” procedure.
The purpose of the gazette is to keep the public informed about changes.
Given that Tonga’s prayer week occurs in the first week of January, Lord Fusitu’a is optimistic that the gazette will be issued by the second week of January 2023.
For the enactment of the bill on legal tender.
“Conservatively, the earliest date realistically is the beginning to the middle of February as the activation date. It could be much, much earlier if the last three steps are rushed through — which I have seen before.”
“All things being equal, let’s say mid-February,” Lord Fusitu’a concluded.
The potential of the country’s Bitcoin mining businesses is enormous.
Tonga has 21 volcanoes that produce over 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power annually (a Bitcoin coincidence).
Tonga has “a potential 1960 MW with nothing to do,” according to the national grid, which consumes 40 MW per year.
However, the government may need to be on board in order to mine efficiently, and internet infrastructure must be reliable.
Due to an agreement reached over eight years ago with the international financial agency The World Bank, broadband infrastructure will not be a barrier to increasing internet and mining operations.
The World Bank telecommunications arrangement arranged by Lord Fusitu’a’s mother effectively “futureproofed” their bandwidth infrastructure.
Lord Fusitu’a’s legal training came in handy during the discussions, as he was able to supervise the purchase due to his extensive knowledge of the country’s fiber cable infrastructure.
To put it another way, Tonga has “enough bandwidth for the next 100 years.”
Furthermore, because practically every house in Tonga has fiber connectivity because the cable is connected “to the door,” home mining is a viable option.
As a result, in the 2020s, Tongan households may be able to mine at home using cheap surplus volcanic energy.
The government must be on board if the country is to reach a national level of Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin mining could start “as early as Q3 2023,” according to Lord Fusitu’a, and the government is likely to be on board.
“Mining activities could be privately run or part of a government-led joint venture. For it to take off, a new state-owned firm may be required,” he said.
Bitcoin mining companies interested in following the Tongan Bitcoin story have given Lord Fusitu’a 40-foot shipping containers containing mining machines to test capacity.
The names of the companies are kept under wraps.
Nonetheless, Tonga’s publicly stated ambitions to promote Bitcoin use are gathering steam.
