According to former member of parliament Lord Fusitu’a, the island nation is set to adopt bitcoin as legal tender by November 2022. For now, however, the cryptocurrency is used to transfer funds in Tonga, which was recently hit by a tsunami. .
Bitcoin Donations for Tonga
A tsunami measuring 1.5 meters triggered by the shockwave hit Tonga during the weekend, inundating homes and roads and damaging communication lines. However, no death has been reported so far.
The shock wave was recorded as far away as Alaska and Chennai in a sharp rise and fall in atmospheric pressure. The booming sound was reportedly heard as far away as New Zealand, about 2,500km from Tonga.
More recent reports claimed that most communications lines could be down for up to two weeks. Nevertheless, Tonga also made the news on the crypto front.
The small island nation in the Tasman Sea in the South Pacific Ocean is accepting bitcoin donations following Saturday’s volcanic shock wave that caused the tsunami.
Responding to the spectacular visuals of the volcanic activity, some Twitter users suggested setting up a bitcoin wallet address to collect relief funds and help Tonga deal with the crisis.
Tonga’s former Member of Parliament, Lord Fusitu’a, who said a few days ago that the island nation was on the verge of adopting bitcoin as legal tender, has created a bitcoin wallet address to receive donations crypto holders. As of this writing, the wallet received around $5,000 in BTC donations in less than 24 hours.
Lord Fusitu’a later added, “It’s shown how important it is: we are effectively the only stream of revenue of any sort that can get into Tonga now (via @Blockstream bitcoin satellite kit gifted by @Excellion last year) as no internet=no fiat banking or remittances can get in. Only us. Let that sink in.”
Bitcoin as legal tender?
Tonga has 126,000 members of the diaspora, 18,000 of whom live in Australia. Remittances represent about 37% of the country’s GDP. By accepting bitcoin as legal tender, Tonga can benefit from faster and cheaper international payments.
Lord Fusitu’a has given a timeline for the possible adoption of bitcoin as a legal tender by November 2022. He has also revealed Tonga will tap geothermal power from its volcanoes to power bitcoin mining.
“The technology is ready to be deployed. We are just awaiting passage of the legal tender bill and ancillary legislation to direct the deployment of mining infrastructure,” he said in a recent tweet.
