Crypto Censorship: Canada ordered financial institutions to stop transactions of 34 crypto wallets tied to ‘Freedom Convoy’ anti-mandate trucker protests

One of the primary arguments made by supporters of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is that, unlike fiat currencies like the US dollar, they cannot be controlled by the government, banks, and other financial institutions. Unfortunately, what’s happening in Canada right is further proof that cryptocurrency is not beyond the control of government authorities around the world.

Yesterday, Canadian authorities sanctioned 34 crypto wallets tied to Trucker’s Freedom Convoy.’ The authorities also ordered financial institutions to stop facilitating any transactions with crypto addresses tied to the country’s ongoing trucker protests.

According to a report from Coin Desk, The Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police ordered all regulated financial firms to stop facilitating any transactions from 34 crypto wallets tied to funding trucker-led protests in the country.

The federal police agencies in Canada, working in concert with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), are together investigating cryptocurrency donations supporting the weeks-long  Trucker ‘Freedom Convoy’ anti-mandate protests. The protests are now deemed illegal after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since the law was passed in 1988.

Meanwhile, The RCMP and FINTRAC did not immediately return Coin Desk’s request for comment.

The list includes 29 Bitcoin addresses, one Ethereum address, one Cardano address, one Ethereum Classic address, one Litecoin address, and one Monero address, according to the order. A copy of the order was circulating on Twitter earlier on Wednesday. CoinDesk said it cannot confirm its authenticity.

Donors have sent more than 20 BTC to the addresses, worth over $870,000 (CA$1.1 million). The donors turned to cryptocurrencies after the GoFundMe account that had previously received more than $9 million was suspended.

It all started back in late January after fundraising website GoFundMe removed a fundraiser for Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” protest against the country’s COVID-19 policies. In a statement released Friday that it will withhold any donations made to support the Canadian anti-vaccine truckers and their allies.

The supporters of the “Freedom Convoy” protest later went to another fundraising company before its website was later hacked. As an alternative, the supporters of the Trucker ‘Freedom Convoy’ then turned to cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, in a post on Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responsed to the tweet with a meme of Adolf Hitler with a message, “Stop comparing me to Justin Truden.”

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1494216634822766594