Tonga adopts BTC (Bitcoin)? The answer: SOON. A country in the Pacific Islands is indeed widely mentioned will adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender in their territory.
This is an effort to follow the steps of the country of El Salvador, which has already entered the use of this crypto asset as a means of payment. Previously, El Salvador had already authorized the use of Bitcoin as a means of payment.
The steps taken by one of the countries in Central America also immediately triggered the next “Bitcoinization” growth. El Salvador itself adopted BTC as a legal tender with the primary consideration or impetus caused by the remittance use case.
As is well known, the value of crypto currency itself in recent times has continued to increase slowly. Therefore, many people are starting to choose to have assets in the form of digital currency. No doubt, evil lurks behind it. Then, El Salvador also legalized the use of BTC as a legal tender in their country.
On the other hand, although the presence of cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin and others, is still a polemic until now, interest in making it a legal tender has begun to be shown by many countries, one of which is Tonga.
Lets see the review below to find out how Tonga is in adopting Bitcoin.
Tonga Adopts BTC This Year
This started with a tweet from a former member of parliament for Tonga, Lord Fusitu’a, on Twitter on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, then. In his tweet, Lord Fusitu’a shared his play-by-play approach to adopting BTC as legal tender.
In that series of tweets, Lord Fusitu’a also released an ETA for Bitcoin as a legal tender in his country. The move could later send more than 100,000 Bitcoins to the Tongan network, as copied from the El Salvador playbook.
The chairman of the Global Organization of Members of Parliament Against Corruption outlined the adoption path in his 5-point plan. Later, in follow-up comments, Fusitu’a said that the Bill was “modeled on and nearly identical to the El Salvador Bill.”
This announcement brings questions, predictions, and excitement right from Twitter’s Bitcoin before Tonga sets things straight. Enthusiastically, he replied that the timeline for BTC to become a legal tender could take place as early as November or December this year.
“Boom! It’s us, my brother!” he tweeted. He was also widely speculated last year that his country would be one of the next regions in the world to adopt BTC as legal tender.
The culmination of the speculation occurred after the broadcast of Lord Fusitu’a podcast with Bitcoiner Peter McCormack based in Bedford. Throughout the conversation, Lord Fusitu’a shared stories about remittance cases, as an attempt to adopt BTC as a legal tender. According to him, this adoption step will provoke the market.
“Increase in disposable income by 30 percent. With the extra 30 per cent, some (people) will keep it rather than put it into the economy and pile up sats,” he said.
Tonga is a remote island nation that relies on remittances from other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In International Finance Corporation estimates, Tonga receives more revenue from remittances than any other country in the world. In fact, it contributes up to 30 percent of household income there.
In addition, although Tonga’s population is only six figures, their diaspora is widely known. According to the International Organization for Migration, the population of Tongans living overseas is estimated at 126,000, with the number of people of Tongan descent living in Australia at 18,000.
Fusitu’a added that apart from remittances, Tonga also brings domestic advantages to adopting open-source protocols. He also admitted that he agreed that Tonga was capable of creating a circular Bitcoin economy and that it was one of the few examples “where a place becomes an archipelago with a small kingdom in which people have many advantages”.
When the internet infrastructure on the islands is questioned, Tonga itself claims that the internet and smartphone penetration rate there exceeds 90%. Referring to the latest World Bank figures, although from five years ago in 2017, Tonga has internet penetration reaching 50%.
Furthermore, while getting the islands online may take some time, Fusitu’a himself is adamant about the future of BTC in his country. The World Bank also reports that Tonga’s remittances as a percentage of gross domestic product are substantially higher than El Salvador’s, with percentages of 39% and 24%, respectively.
Tonga Adopts BTC—Bitcoin Price
It is certainly interesting to see that Tonga, a small island nation in the middle of the Pacific, will soon adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. Well, then, let’s wait for what surprises Tonga will give at the end of this year, OK!
Apart from that, the last Bitcoin price on the Indodax market was IDR 562,987,000 (as of Friday, January 21, 2022). Please click here to find out the latest Bitcoin prices and price updates in the last 24 hours.
Furthermore, if you want to know the latest price of Bitcoin (BTC/IDR), you can check it through the Indodax market.
