Ex-CEO Says Bitcoin Mining Could Have Been a Revenue Boom for the Pacific Island

As I reflect back on my tenure as CEO of Tonga Cable Ltd from 2018 to 2020, I'm reminded of Robert Frost's famous poem about two diverging roads in a yellow wood. We faced such a moment of choice, though at the time, I don't think anyone but me fully grasped its significance.

It began with disappointment. We had invested considerably in establishing data center operations and cloud services – a logical step for a company operating the nation's submarine cable infrastructure. The initiative showed immense promise, but fate had other plans. Following concerns raised by one of our shareholders because they offering the same service as a retailer of internet capacity, we had to cease these operations, leaving us with valuable infrastructure and a pressing need to re-imagine its utility.

In moments of challenge, innovation often flourishes. As I surveyed our assets – three cable landing stations humming 24/7 with reliable power infrastructure, standby generators standing ready, and most tantalizingly, our position on the internet's backbone with vast under-utilized capacity – an idea began to crystallize. What if we could turn these resources toward Bitcoin mining?

The synchronicity was perfect. We had everything a mining operation could dream of: reliable power, multiple secure locations with built-in cooling systems, direct access to high-speed internet connectivity, and a team with the technical expertise to maintain it all. It seemed like destiny had handed us all the pieces of a puzzle that could transform not just our company, but potentially our entire nation's economic future.

The numbers danced in my head. In 2018, Bitcoin traded between $3,200 and $17,000. Even with a modest setup of 100 ASIC miners, we could have been mining approximately 43.8 BTC annually. At the time, this would have translated to roughly $273,790 in annual revenue after accounting for electricity costs and pool fees. Today, as we approach 2025 with Bitcoin exceeding $96,916.31, that same mining output would generate significantly more revenue, but the exact figure depends on various factors including electricity costs and changes in network difficulty. And that's with a conservative setup – we had the capacity for much more.

I often think about El Salvador and Bhutan, nations that took bold steps into the cryptocurrency frontier. Tonga, with our strategic location in the Pacific and robust infrastructure, could have blazed a similar trail. We could have been the beacon of blockchain innovation in the Pacific, attracting technological investment and expertise to our shores. Our small island nation could have positioned itself at the forefront of the digital asset revolution.

But reality has its own gravity. I knew then that submitting such a proposal to our Board of Directors would be like suggesting we build a runway for flying saucers. The conservative nature of our governance, combined with the volatile reputation of cryptocurrency mining, made it a non-starter. Sometimes, being too early is indistinguishable from being wrong.

Yet, as I watch Bitcoin's meteoric rise and the growing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency, I can't help but wonder about that road not taken. The infrastructure we had – our power systems, our cooling capabilities, our internet connectivity – they were like a key in search of its lock. We had the potential to be pioneers, to write a different economic story for Tonga.

These reflections aren't about regret – they're about recognizing that innovation often appears first as an impossible dream. As leaders, we sometimes glimpse opportunities that exist in the overlap between present capabilities and future possibilities. The fact that these opportunities don't always materialize doesn't make them any less real or significant.

Today, as I watch nations and major corporations embrace the very ideas that once seemed too radical for our board room, I'm reminded that timing is everything in leadership and innovation. The seeds we plant don't always grow in our season. But perhaps sharing this story might inspire others to look at their existing resources with fresh eyes, to see the extraordinary potential hiding within the ordinary.