Tonga needs $ 26 million for construction cables, but the World Bank said Tonga has no guarantees for this funding.
However, Tonga was able to raise funds through a grant to the least developed countries. Given Lord Fossetwa’s influence on local politics and the fact that he claims to own the volcano, he may be able to do just that.
Lord Fuzitwa also claimed to have negotiated a free offer of mining technology, but did not disclose the terms of the agreement. Chinese companies such as Bitmain have a large market share in this area. It is also possible that refugee mining as a result of China’s recent ban may also be on its way to Tonga. For now, this is a mystery.
“For the nation state, the calculation does not change. The ideal is that the state has its own mining operations.”
On the subject: Tonga copies El Salvador’s law to legalize bitcoins, says ex-deputy
Who is Lord Fausitva?
Lord Fossetwa was a former lawyer before becoming a politician, and a member of the Tongan nobility.
Tonga is the only country in the South Pacific that has retained a native monarchy. Although a member of the Commonwealth, this was done after her election in 1970. Tonga has never been a colony despite pressure from imperialist states throughout history.
Lord Fuzitwa decided to resign as MP in November 2021 after recovering from surgery due to serious illness and living in New Zealand for three years, especially as Tonga closed its borders due to COVID-19. However, his cousin has taken a seat in Tonga’s parliament, so according to Lord Fositwa, his domestic legislative agenda remains the same.
Two near-death injuries came in favor of his ambitious program at the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, which includes anti-corruption legislation, women’s empowerment and climate change.
When he spoke to the Cointelegraph, which is usually the case after a series of surgeries, he was shirtless and covered in tattoos (the word Tong was destroyed by Captain Cook) depicting the clan’s millennial history of tattoos.
Lord Fuzitwa has been “just bitcoin” since 2013, but “do not let the look fool you”: He started programming when he was eight years old.
It was the time he was stuck in the hospital when he could not speak or swallow and could only read when he confirmed his passion. Read each printed word about Bitcoin again.
Lord Fuzitwa is very visible in bitcoin circles online when he talks about why his country, which is dependent on money transfers, accepts bitcoin.
“This is the coolest money ever made. It’s a combination of digital scarcity and decentralized ledger. The most egalitarian democratic money on the planet. This is safe money, the purest asset. A store of value, it’s an asset . ” principal creditor.
“But if you come from a country that depends on money transfers, like El Salvador or Tonga, your life changes immediately. For countries ravaged by hyperinflation, like Nigeria or Venezuela, where you need a currency wheelbarrow to buy bread [. ..] it could be a survival mechanism for four billion poor people, ‘he said.
plan
Fossetwa explained to Cointelegraph his four-part plan to change the way Tonga’s economy is run.
The plan is to economically educate the people of Tonga about bitcoin money transfers, register legal tender in bitcoin, establish bitcoin mining in Tonga and establish a national bitcoin treasury in Tonga.
A large part of the plan is related to financial education for the people of Tonga, whose economy is heavily dependent on remittances.
Lord Fuzitwa says he is tired of families in developing countries losing much-needed income from intermediaries when they send money transfers home.
According to Lord Fausitva, around 40% of Tonga’s national economy is built on remittances sent into the country from a diaspora with almost 300,000 workers abroad. They send money to the island’s population of around 120,000 people. With more than double the population of the Tongan diaspora, remittances are crucial to the national economy.
He stated that “Tonga’s GDP in 2020 was $ 510 million, of which 40% is just over $ 200 million. So 30% of that, or $ 60 million, is royalties from Western Union.”
Lord Fausitva claims that physical bitcoin transactions will give a 30% increase in remittances for everyone as Western Union charges villagers a 30% fee, although Western Union’s calculator indicates a fee of almost three AUD per transaction.
