Alex Coin 
The 171-island Kingdom of Tonga has been hit hard by the shockwave from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haa’pai underwater volcano. A former MP is starting a campaign to accept Bitcoin donations to help those affected.
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On Thursday, January 13, we published that the Kingdom of Tonga could be the second country after El Salvador, in making Bitcoin legal tender . This was said by the country’s politician and former parliamentarian, Lord Fusitu’a (very fond of cryptocurrency), who anticipated that the nation – which is governed under the rule of a parliamentary monarchy – could adopt Bitcoin the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency in the world. It is a decentralized digital currency that enables users to make trustless peer-to-peer transactions. from November of this year.
Who would have imagined that hours after that announcement a natural phenomenon was going to put the archipelago in need of Bitcoin, this time to help those affected.
Cointelegraph told today that Tonga is now accepting donations from Bitcoin to assist with relief efforts as the country deals with the aftermath of the massive shockwave from the explosion of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haa’pai underwater volcano that led to a tsunami.
The volcano and its consequences
According to the media La Tercera, Tonga was virtually cut off from the rest of the world after the eruption of an underwater volcano paralysed communications in the Pacific island nation two days ago.
According to the information, the internet connection could be cut off for several weeks for about 100,000 people living in the country.
Likewise, the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haa’pai volcano covered Tonga with ash, causing a tsunami throughout the Pacific. The waves even reached the coasts of Latin America and left two deaths in Peru.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday the damage to the islands of Tonga was “significant”. With giant waves covering roads and property, people began fleeing to higher ground to escape. No casualties have been reported on the Tongan islands, but there has been significant destruction of infrastructure. In addition, air and water pollution are now among the immediate concerns of aid organizations.
Here you can see some of them videos both of the moment of the volcano explosion and of different events on the islands .
Donations
In the face of the calamity, the crypto community expressed its spirit of solidarity. Holders of cryptocurrencies expressed their intention to donate Bitcoin to help with relief operations. Twitter user onair_bl air urged the supporter of Bitcoin and former Tongan legislator, Lord Fusitu’a, to establish a wallet a place where cryptocurrency users can store, send and receive digital assets. address a place where cryptocurrency can be sent to and from, in the form of a string of letters and numbers. where people can donate to bitcoin s aid funds for Tonga’s relief funds.
Hi @LordFusitua , you should set up a #bitcoin wallet for #Tonga Relief Funds and receive through #LightningNetwork .
I’ve learned a lot about you and your nation through #btc Twitter and I hope this is part of the solution.
Hoping you come out of this stronger than before.
Hey @LordFusitua , you should setup a #bitcoin wallet for #Tonga Relief Funds and receive via #LightningNetwork .
I’ve learned much about you and your nation through #btc Twitter and am hoping this is a part of the solution.
Hoping you come out of this stronger than before ????
– ₿LAIR???? (@onair_blair) January 16, 2022
Lord Fusitu’a responded with a BTC wallet address and a link where people can donate fiat fiat currency is “legal tender” backed by a central government, such as the Federal Reserve, and with its own banking system, such as fractional reserve banking. It can take the form of physical cash, or it can be represented electronically, such as with bank credit. to help with relief operations. The address has received a total of 0.10794983 BTC (USD $4625.29) since yesterday.
And people have been donating, as can be seen in Twitter reports from various users who say where to donate or have sent reports of their transactions.
Update from Tonga: their fiber optic cable is cut and their satellite connection is down. There is almost no electricity, but hand crank and diesel generators are being used.
Donations:
BTC: bc1qmn6ddugyj853vgmcvljs5te6rl9teuhz6t5cun
Tonga update: Their fiber optic cable is severed and their satellite connection is disrupted. Electricity is mostly out, but hand crank and diesel generators are being used.
Donations:
BTC: bc1qmn6ddugyj853vgmcvljs5te6rl9teuhz6t5cunFiat: https://t.co/hlkv8cCOTP pic.twitter.com/9q3PMfBOaM
— Derek Ross ????⚡ (@derekmross) January 16, 2022
Also, another user indicated the difficulties for donations due to the lack of energy and the help that Blockstream has given:
The only way to get BTC donations at this time for Tonga is through a blockchain a distributed ledger system. A sequence of blocks, or units of digital information, stored consecutively in a public database. The basis for cryptocurrencies. transaction. There is no Lightning at the moment. This is thanks to the @Blockstream Satellite that @Excellion donated to Lord and Tonga a while back. This is because there is no regular internet at the moment.
The only way to get BTC donations at this time to Tonga is via on-chain transactions that are recorded on the blockchain itself and shared with all of the participants are done on-chain. transaction. No Lightning at this time. This is thanks to the @Blockstream Satellite that @Excellion donated to Lord and Tonga a while back. ???????????? This is due to no regular Internet at this time.
— Derek Ross ????⚡ (@derekmross) January 16, 2022
Volcanic energy
Coincidentally, the day before and just as I was talking about adopting BTC as a currency, Lord Fusitu’a referred him to Cointelegraph about plans to use geothermal energy from volcanoes to power Bitcoin mining a process where blocks are added to a blockchain, verifying transactions. It is also the process through which new bitcoin or some altcoins are created. operations that would help the country’s finances. That would also copying El Salvador’s model . The country has 21 volcanoes and, according to Lord Fusitu’a, “each volcano produces 95,000 megawatts at any given time, which leaves plenty to spare.” According to his words, a single volcano can generate USD $2,000 in Bitcoin daily, and this will be delivered to Tongan families.
Sources: Twitter, Cointelegraph, La Tercera, 20 minutos, archivo
Version of DiarioBitcoin
Imagen de Unsplash (referential, it’s not the volcano of Tonga)
