PNG's Gift to the World: The T4G Token

Back in 2011, no one in Papua New Guinea knew what Bitcoin was. People were busy with their lives—selling betel nut, planting kaukau and working in the town. The internet was slow. Smartphones were rare.

In the year 2011, few in Papua New Guinea (P.N.G.) had heard of Bitcoin. People were busy selling betel nut, planting kaukau and working in the town. The internet was slow. Smartphones were rare. But in Port Moresby, a young man named Kepa Wagi felt a curiosity for the world beyond P.N.G..

A friend from Australia sent him an email—something called Bitcoin, ‘digital money’ not from any bank.’ Kepa was more used to K50 notes or coins. “Money that doesn’t come in notes or coins? How?”

His friend explained, “It’s like email, but for money. You store it in a wallet on your phone or computer. And it’s limited—only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist.”

Kepa didn’t fully understand but he was intrigued. With K500 from doing website work for a small NGO, he bought a small amount of Bitcoin through a foreign exchange site. One Bitcoin was valued at K50 at the time. His friends laughed at him.

“You waste your money on invisible coins?”

But Kepa persevered. He read more online. He joined early chat forums. He learned how Bitcoin was not controlled by any government, and used something called ‘blockchain’ to keep records.

Years passed. In 2013, one Bitcoin reached K100. Then K1,000. By 2017, it was more than K20,000 per coin. Kepa had only bought a minimal amount but it had blossomed into something substantial. He began to teach others.

Soon, young people from Goroka, Lae and Hagen were asking him, “Em wanem samting ya Bitcoin? How can we use it?”

But Kepa also saw a problem.

“Bitcoin is good,” he told them, “But many people in P.N.G. don’t have internet, don’t have smartphones or don’t understand how to keep their wallets safe.”

So Kepa and his close friend Maya Mara and a few others who believed in Bitcoin started thinking of a new kind of digital money.

One that was simple, connected to the land and forests of P.N.G. and could work even without full internet. That’s when they created the T4G Token—short for ‘Travel for Green’ (T4G).

What Is T4G Token?

Kepa explained it to his community in Tok Pisin:

“T4G em olsem digital token, tasol em stap wantaim bikpela samting. Wanpela T4G em olsem wanpela USD. Tasol em i stap long blockchain and it’s backed by P.N.G.’s carbon reserve. Em olsem yu holim graun blo P.N.G. long digital