Bringing Bitcoin to Tonga

In this episode of What Bitcoin Did podcast, host Peter McCormack talks to Tongan Politician and Noble of the Realm, Lord Fusituʻa. They discuss the history of Tonga, why the country relies so heavily on remittance payments and the steps he is taking to bring Bitcoin to the Tongan people.

According to Fusitu'a: “The economy will first benefit by every customer having a disposable income increase by 30% and... simultaneously with that extra 30%, there are some who are going to be saving it rather than putting it into the economy and stacking sats.”

Episode timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:27 Who is Lord Fusitu’a?
00:06:00 Locked borders
00:08:54 Exports
00:10:03 Economy
00:12:09 Culture
00:21:32 Politics
00:26:51 Rabbit-hole story
00:35:40 Multiple currencies
00:43:44 Fees on remittances
00:45:31 Bitcoin access?
00:48:47 BTC price appreciation
00:53:33 Bitcoin laws coming?
00:55:14 Legislation vs. market solution
00:59:05 When is the vote?
01:04:35 Green energy Bitcoin mining

The episode was recorded on 27th June, 2021.