Tonga will probably be the next country to make Bitcoin legal tender

[Cling18]

Pending the passing of the law that will hopefully make Bitcoin a legal tender of the beautiful yet isolated kingdom of Tonga, why doesn't the government just declare Bitcoin as an acceptable currency? I guess a mere executive order or something like that would be enough to make the ball rolling for this tiny country.

I think this Bitcoin-as-a-legal-tender experiment would be much easier to manage and probably faster to earn success in this very small Polynesian island nation than in El Salvador considering that Tonga is very small both in area and population.

The biggest challenge, however, would be technological and basic infrastructures that would provide the population reliable electricity and internet connection as well as the access to smart phones. This is particularly more challenging because the country is archipelagic and that several small inhabited islands are living off the grid.

Every Bitcoin adoption like this needs adjustment to pursue its legalization. If a country couldn't provide the adjustments needed, the legalization plan will surely fail. As we all know, electricity and the internet are needed to successfully adopt Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, this kind of adoption is a good sign that more countries even the small ones are willing to accept cryptocurrency for their innovation and technology development.

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[Slow death]

the only impact that tonga would have if they agreed to use bitcoin as the main currency in the country would be that all the news channels would be talking about it, the small number of people who have tonga is something that would not affect the price, i say this because not everyone would buy bitcoin and also have a question to see what is the purchasing power of each person in Tonga

[Darker45]

Pending the passing of the law that will hopefully make Bitcoin a legal tender of the beautiful yet isolated kingdom of Tonga, why doesn't the government just declare Bitcoin as an acceptable currency? I guess a mere executive order or something like that would be enough to make the ball rolling for this tiny country.

I think this Bitcoin-as-a-legal-tender experiment would be much easier to manage and probably faster to earn success in this very small Polynesian island nation than in El Salvador considering that Tonga is very small both in area and population.

The biggest challenge, however, would be technological and basic infrastructures that would provide the population reliable electricity and internet connection as well as the access to smart phones. This is particularly more challenging because the country is archipelagic and that several small inhabited islands are living off the grid.

Every Bitcoin adoption like this needs adjustment to pursue its legalization. If a country couldn't provide the adjustments needed, the legalization plan will surely fail. As we all know, electricity and the internet are needed to successfully adopt Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, this kind of adoption is a good sign that more countries even the small ones are willing to accept cryptocurrency for their innovation and technology development.

Just a little point of disagreement. Not even the small ones but especially the small ones. And I am not only referring to land area or population, I am referring to small economies especially. Those that are disadvantaged by the global fiat system. Those that are not attended to by the global financial institutions. These are the discriminated countries where most citizens are deprived of banking services, preyed upon by traditional money transmitters, and who are the receiving end of intolerable inflation rates.

[cabron]

Pending the passing of the law that will hopefully make Bitcoin a legal tender of the beautiful yet isolated kingdom of Tonga, why doesn't the government just declare Bitcoin as an acceptable currency? I guess a mere executive order or something like that would be enough to make the ball rolling for this tiny country.

I think this Bitcoin-as-a-legal-tender experiment would be much easier to manage and probably faster to earn success in this very small Polynesian island nation than in El Salvador considering that Tonga is very small both in area and population.

The biggest challenge, however, would be technological and basic infrastructures that would provide the population reliable electricity and internet connection as well as the access to smart phones. This is particularly more challenging because the country is archipelagic and that several small inhabited islands are living off the grid.

Every Bitcoin adoption like this needs adjustment to pursue its legalization. If a country couldn't provide the adjustments needed, the legalization plan will surely fail. As we all know, electricity and the internet are needed to successfully adopt Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, this kind of adoption is a good sign that more countries even the small ones are willing to accept cryptocurrency for their innovation and technology development.

Just a little point of disagreement. Not even the small ones but especially the small ones. And I am not only referring to land area or population, I am referring to small economies especially. Those that are disadvantaged by the global fiat system. Those that are not attended to by the global financial institutions. These are the discriminated countries where most citizens are deprived of banking services, preyed upon by traditional money transmitters, and who are the receiving end of intolerable inflation rates.

Unless these oppressed are going to give up thier resources and use the money of thier oppressor, that's when they can have developments but no freedom.

It just needs another country to try what El Salvador had done for more countries to consider BTC as legal tender as well. IMF is now reacting crazy. They are imposing sanctions on countries like cutting them off from trading by not allowing countries to use the SWIFT network and then just letting the country dry out of money not able to trade with others.

But now there is just a way to get around with it like what Russia had done which they have thier own System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS). With Bitcoin, any small country like Tonga can be financially independent.  

[pinggoki]

Well I hope they see through to it just like El Salvador did, it will encourage other smaller countries to make this type of decision, 30% on remittance is not a small amount, that's a complete ripoff,  if they are able to legalize btc they won't have to pay such a high percentage on remittance.

This is good that, small countries are starting to get into the market and tries to adapt bitcoin and other cryptocurrency. Let's hope that it's going to be the case, with more people in the network means that the network becomes more congested which is going to be a problem for the market.

[davis196]

1.This seems like another clickbait article.Bitcoin still hasn't been accepted as legal tender in Tonga.There's a proposal in the parliament,but that proposal might be denied.
2.Countries like Tonga can have liberal Bitcoin regulation without the necessity of declaring Bitcoin a legal tender.What's the problem of accepting BTC payments in Tonga without Bitcoin being a legal tender?
Is Bitcoin illegal in Tonga?

3.The international monetary fund will always be a pro-fiat and anti-crypto organization.
The whole purpose of IMF is to protect fiat currencies and the global fiat financial system from any threat that arrives.

[Poker Player]

1.This seems like another clickbait article.Bitcoin still hasn't been accepted as legal tender in Tonga.There's a proposal in the parliament,but that proposal might be denied.

Yes. The title given to the thread by the OP is quite clickbait, as it is based on the initiative of an MP.

I'm not too excited about the news myself, at least I'm not as excited as the OP seems to be. Even if in the end what the MP proposes was approved, we are talking about a set of small islands in the middle of the ocean, far from everything basically.

Although I welcome any country that wants to pass Bitcoin friendly regulation. It is likely that little by little it will be this kind of countries, and not the big ones with strong currencies, that will do it.

[michellee]

IMF can recommend El Salvador not to use bitcoin for legal tender but that will be to their government because they know what the real thing that happens to their country. If El Salvador can manage the risk of bitcoin price volatility and know how to benefit them, the IMF can not do anything.

If Tonga finally uses bitcoin as Legal Tender, it will give more support for bitcoin to become globally in a short time because more countries will see the potential of bitcoin for their country and their people.

People do not want to pay up to 30% in fees by using Western Union because that can save their money for another thing and maybe that country will develop better in the future. Hopefully, that plan can do smoothly so bitcoin can be accepted as a legal tender in Tonga.

[Lucius]

1.This seems like another clickbait article.Bitcoin still hasn't been accepted as legal tender in Tonga.There's a proposal in the parliament,but that proposal might be denied.

How is something clickbait if the title says "Tonga will probably be the next country to make Bitcoin legal tender"? This means that there is a possibility that this will happen, although the situation is not even close to what happened in El Salvador. A member of parliament who proposes this law may have feedback from other members of parliament who are prone to a positive decision, but we will not find out until the final decision.

Yet whichever country is next, it is more important that someone follows the example of the first country and shows that this was no exception.

[Kakmakr]

Well, the president of El Salvador said that the main reason why they started to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, was for remittance purposes. The Money transmitters are making a killing by charging people crazy high fees and that is not helping these citizens. (Most of them are working in other countries and sending money home to their kids and family)

It will also open new tourism opportunities for "Bitcoin" tourists...because some people earn bitcoins and they cannot spend it in their own countries. They then go on Bitcoin holidays in countries where they can spend it.  

[Haunebu]

Never heard of this country op. I understand why you are assuming that Tonga will accept BTC as legal tender due to financial difficulties, but you need to remember the fact that most of these proposals get rejected by their respective governments.

Why? Because cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH etc basically take away some of the power from the government and shift it to the common people which is why most government officials hate them and oppose them ardently.

Cases like El Salvador accepting BTC as legal tender are rare to be honest.

[oHnK]

At least I'm not as excited as the OP seems to be. Even if in the end what the MP proposes was approved, we are talking about a set of small islands in the middle of the ocean, far from everything basically.

Although I welcome any country that wants to pass Bitcoin friendly regulation. It is likely that little by little it will be this kind of countries, and not the big ones with strong currencies, that will do it.

Whatever it is, the point is to think of all of this as a form of adding information and knowledge because this will not have a significant effect on the market.  There is no one big country that will make Bitcoin a legal tender in their country because it will threaten the existence of their own country's fiat.  How can fiat coexist with BTC with contradictory characteristics?  This is like a joke in broad daylight but still has the potential to happen if there are extreme leaders in their policies.

[Tumanggor]

what a happy feeling to hear one more country that Bitcoin will save

bitcoin has made el salvador a strong and independent country, surely Tonga will be like el salvador if tonga follow in el salvador footsteps

in 2022 I really believe there will be more and more small countries that make bitcoin as a legal tender in their country

[South Park]

the only impact that tonga would have if they agreed to use bitcoin as the main currency in the country would be that all the news channels would be talking about it, the small number of people who have tonga is something that would not affect the price, i say this because not everyone would buy bitcoin and also have a question to see what is the purchasing power of each person in Tonga

Well not everything should revolve around whether a news is going to have a positive effect on the price of bitcoin, this is just about adoption, the people of Tonga need something like bitcoin, paying 30% on fees is simply not acceptable, Western Union and other remittance services charge huge fees all over the world when bitcoin offers the same service at ridiculous low prices, so it makes sense for the government of Tonga to be interested in integrating bitcoin to their small economy as it will bring to them huge benefits almost immediately.

[Leonardo7]

30%in fees is an indirect robbery. I magine 30% of $1,000,000 that would be $300k I undersatnd there should be a cap though and it's still way too expensive. My brother in Italy sends money to me via crypto almost at no cost. This is what the banks fear. The days of visiting their iniquidity is near.

[adzino]

Legal tender means people MUST pay with Bitcoin, and that I disagree. I agree with a simple law that states people can freely use Bitcoin as cash or whatever means of payment. People should be free to use what currency they want to use or reject, but that's only exists in an imaginary country... Well, I'd like to see what the law really said before making further comment.

No, it doesn't mean that they MUST pay with bitcoin. They also have fiat currency which is also a legal tender. So it means they can also pay with fiat money. But this means that they receiver must accept bitcoin or fiat money because both are legal tender. But I don't see any issue over here. There are many gateway payment processor that will instantly convert the bitcoin to receive to fiat currency of your choice. The fees are also very reasonable (all POS also have fees, but customers aren't charged by the sellers) and easy to setup. Good to see more countries wiling to turn bitcoin into a legal tender.

[paxmao]

I am not really familiar with Tonga... what the heck... is there anyone here familiar with Tonga? But I do applaud those countries that are willing to accept bitcoin as legal tender. I think they are making a good bet for the future. However, that is only as long as they are also able to keep their local coins. Bitcoin is, till now, deflationary and that is a very poor characteristic for a countries' coin as it does not allow to use any monetary policy when the situation calls for it.

Tonga seem a bit beyond that, so it is ok.

claims that Western Union “takes a 30 per cent commission”

   ... such a clear use case.

[Lucius]

I am not really familiar with Tonga... what the heck... is there anyone here familiar with Tonga?

You will hardly find anyone on the forum who has anything to do with Tonga, because it is a fairly isolated group of islands located in Polynesia, some would say in the middle of nowhere. According to the 2016 census, they have just over 100 000 inhabitants, and some estimates say there are at least as many abroad, mostly in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

When we compare this to El Salvador which has over 6 million inhabitants, then the influence of Tonga even if they accept Bitcoin as a legal tender would be only symbolic.

[South Park]

I am not really familiar with Tonga... what the heck... is there anyone here familiar with Tonga?

You will hardly find anyone on the forum who has anything to do with Tonga, because it is a fairly isolated group of islands located in Polynesia, some would say in the middle of nowhere. According to the 2016 census, they have just over 100 000 inhabitants, and some estimates say there are at least as many abroad, mostly in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

When we compare this to El Salvador which has over 6 million inhabitants, then the influence of Tonga even if they accept Bitcoin as a legal tender would be only symbolic.

And while this is symbolic for us it would not for the people of Tonga, if this comes to happen and bitcoin becomes a legal tender there and people can send and receive money with bitcoin for much lesser fees then there will be a direct positive impact on their lives, showing once again that all of those that criticize bitcoin as just another tool to speculate are mistaken, bitcoin has use cases and this is clearly one of them.

[Sithara007]

Getting the first 2-3 countries on board is going to be the toughest task. El Salvador has already made Bitcoin the legal tender and a few other countries may do so in 2022. Personally I wasn't expecting this much progress before 2024-25. The multi-trillion dollar stimulus measures announced by the US government has horrified a lot of people, both within the States and outside. They are now seriously thinking about a currency which is protected against inflation and Bitcoin is the best choice right now (especially since gold is performing poorly).