Canada’s Prime Minister Uses Emergency Law to Ban Bitcoin Donations to Protesters

taketonews

Canada’s government is using emergency law to take action against bitcoin payments to protesters
Representatives of the crypto community have strongly criticized the Canadian government’s actions

Some of the crypto wallets cannot be frozen despite the emergency law

In the Canadian capital Ottawa, a number of truckers had blocked roads and started protests. At the beginning, the so-called “Freedom Convoy” was directed against mandatory corona vaccination. In the meantime, the demonstrations have developed into a general protest movement against the Corona measures and the associated policies of the incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He declared war on the insurgents by imposing a national emergency. According to the Prime Minister, the demonstrators would endanger the safety of Canadian citizens and the economy. With the expansion of executive powers via the Emergency Act, Trudeau had cleared the occupied streets of Ottawa again and barred new entrants from traveling to the capital. However, the demonstrations do not seem to be over yet. That’s why the money tap for the protests should now be turned off once and for all.

advertising

Use volatile market phases as a trading opportunity: now trade cryptocurrencies directly with leverage.

act now

77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should carefully consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

Cash flow to trucker protests should be cut

Through the Emergency Act, the Canadian government has given banks the power to freeze the accounts of suspected companies and individuals by order of a court. The accounts to be blocked are said to be donors who support the trucker protests financially. According to the Blockchain-Hero website, the measures also extend to crowdfunding sites and payment providers. These would have to register with the Canadian financial intelligence service “Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada” and report suspicious donations on a large scale. This also covers donations using cryptocurrencies. The action taken against the supporters was able to stop a donation of nine million US dollars, which was actually supposed to flow to the Freedom Convoy campaign via the GoFundMe platform. After this setback, the protesters are said to have relied on Bitcoin as a means of raising money, according to Blockchain-Hero. The cryptocurrency has therefore also come into the focus of the authorities. According to Cointelegraph, crypto exchanges have been asked to desist from funding. According to Blockchain-Hero, the truckers were said to have previously collected almost one million US dollars in Bitcoin with Tallycoin. In the meantime, however, the fundraising page has been shut down.

Canada’s government has been heavily criticized for its actions

The Canadian government’s crackdown on the demonstrators and the freezing of all sources of funding has met with harsh criticism in the crypto community. Jesse Powell, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, wrote provocatively and meaningfully on Twitter: “Rule of law is for losers. Might makes right in Canada. If someone disagrees, you simply confiscate their assets, revoke their licenses, shut them out of the financial system and kills his pets. You don’t have to discuss laws, policies, or even rights when you have a monopoly on the use of force.”

Anthony Pompliano, crypto influencer and co-founder of crypto asset manager Morgan Creek Digital, tweeted a similar irony, putting Canada on a par with China by deliberately confusing the two states: “Wow. China freezes dissident bank accounts and threatens citizens who are expressing their freedom of expression oh wait, sorry. It’s Canada. Not China.”

Despite the state of emergency, it is difficult to confiscate Bitcoin wallets

As crypto wallet custodians are being forced by the Canadian government to freeze the accounts of suspicious individuals, Powell is advising investors to withdraw their funds from decentralized/regulated crypto exchanges and trade peer-to-peer (P2P), according to Cointelegraph. This could prevent the authorities from freezing the funds. According to BTC-Echo, the Canadian executive has already encountered the first obstacles with the Bitcoin wallet Nunchuk. It was ordered by a court to freeze the accounts of people associated with the Freedom Convoy. However, Nunchuk responded to the order by saying that one was merely a software provider and did not act as a bank. The money and the private keys are owned by the customers, which makes it impossible to block the accounts.

The confiscation of all bitcoin donations to the Freedom Convoy campaign could turn out to be more difficult than expected for the Canadian government.

Nicolas Flohr / Editor finanzen.net

Selected leveraged products on TwitterWith knock-outs, speculative investors can participate disproportionately in price movements. Simply select the desired lever and we will show you suitable products on Twitter

Leverage must be between 2 and 20

No data

Image Sources: Mark Heirreid / Shutterstock.com, Bitcap



ttn-28