If you look it up, Tonga is a small Polynesian country, officially called "The Kingdom of Tonga". It is also an archipelago, consisting of 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. An interesting trivia about it is that almost 30% of its GDP is based on remittances, or Tongan diaspora sending money in.
And another interesting trivia is that Tonga may become the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, after El Salvador. According to a story published about an hour ago on Cointelegraph, a former MP intends to make this happening by the end of November this year. Interestingly, the bill will be almost identical with the one adopted in El Salvador.
I will leave to peruse the details in that news, as I am, as usual, rambling a little about the implications of this.
Both countries are very small, and they are both heavily relying on remittances for their GDP (more than a quarter each). Small countries have a lower inertia and they can move faster in either direction, so they are the perfect candidate for such experiments.
Also, this looks like a clear bet against dollarization. A state currency is replaced with a decentralized one.
On the not so funny side, the adoption will not bring milk and honey instantly, because of the high volatility of Bitcoin. The transition won't be smooth, but it will be useful.
And if the transition will take place, as planned, in November, I wonder if the Kingdom of Tonga will indeed be the second country. Because, until then, a lot may happen. There are lot of small countries on our planet, and some may move faster than others.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash