Page 12 - IB March 2021

Digital Economies Digital Economies

Simon Kofe, Minister for Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs, Tuvalu. Photo: Forum Secretariat

TUVALU’S DIGITAL AMBITIONS

FORESIGHT OR FOLLY?

By Dionisia Tabureguci of Bitcoin (BSV) is in its micropayments,” Kofe said.
Not to be confused with Bitcoin, which is worth around
Tuvalu has become the first country in the world to choose US$50,000 per coin (February 2021), Bitcoin SV was created in
Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) blockchain to help it migrate to 2018 via a historic event called a “hard fork”
a fully digital economy, a move that may see it also adopt This breakaway faction was led by Australian computer
Bitcoin SV, the cryptocurrency associated with the BSV block- scientist Craig Wright, a well-known blockchain pioneer who is
chain. among the many people who claim to be ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’,
The ambitious undertaking, still in very early stages, is the Bitcoin creator whose true identity and whereabouts have
expected to digitise all aspects of life in the Polynesian atoll never been revealed.
nation, whose population of 11,646 (2019 Census) is concen- Wright is now chief scientist at nChain, a company he
trated on the main island Funafuti. founded to promote Bitcoin SV.
“The primary aim of the project is to develop a Tuvalu Na- nChain is the Tuvalu Government’s major partner in its
tional Digital Ledger to transform the processes of managing National Digital Public Ledger project, with support also from
the Tuvalu government and economy in a package designed Bitcoin consultancy Elas Digital and community tech-consul-
to suit the unique culture, geography, and society that all tancy company Faia, whose owner George Siosi Samuels is of
Tuvaluans share,” said Simon Kofe, Minister for Justice, Tuvaluan descent and through who the ambitious plan was
Communication and Foreign Affairs for Tuvalu, in an email formed.
interview with Islands Business. According to Kofe, Tuvalu has yet to decide on whether
“The project will enable a complete transfer from the cur- its choice of the BSV blockchain will also mean it will adopt
rent existing paper-based records and cash system to a fully the BSV cryptocurrency to add to its national currencies, the
digital management and cash system. The scalability of the Tuvalu and Australian dollars.
BSV network means Tuvalu can implement relevant technol- But apart from using the BSV blockchain to generate other
ogy rapidly, while allowing for organic growth and develop- applications relevant to Tuvalu’s socio-economic needs, the
ment over time. Instead of focusing on just the cryptocur- National Digital Public Ledger will also require ordinary Tuvalu-
rency aspect, we are focusing on using the actual technology ans to buy and sell using some form of digital payment system.
for day-to-day transactions - whether big or small. The value What this digital cash will be is still to be decided.

12 Islands Business, March 2021