Canada Trying To Freeze Crypto Wallets Due To COVID Protests

By Kevin • February 20, 2022 12:50 pm • Comments

In the midst of local COVID-19 protests, Canadian authorities have decided to freeze bank accounts and crypto wallets that are associated with the protests.

The order was issued by Ontario Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod which stated that all digital assets that were involved in the protests against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions would be frozen.

So far, it is estimated that a total of $1 million in assets have been frozen so far where and many are questioning whether the government had the right to freeze that amount of capital.

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Global crypto advocates responded negatively to the recent news and expressed concern about what this could mean going forward when it comes to regulatory action against cryptocurrency.

CoinTelegraph reports:

Major crypto advocates have subsequently reacted to the news, with Kraken CEO Jesse Powell condemning Canadian authorities.

“Due process is for plebs. Might makes right in Canada. If someone dissents, you just confiscate their wealth, revoke their licenses, exclude them from the financial system and kill their pets.

No need to debate the law, policy or even rights when you have a monopoly on violence,” he wrote on Twitter.

Powell also expressed concerns over crypto holders, admitting that it could be possible that Kraken could potentially be forced to freeze assets by police without judicial consent, stating:

“100% yes it has/will happen and 100% yes, we will be forced to comply. If you’re worried about it, don’t keep your funds with any centralized/regulated custodian.

We cannot protect you. Get your coins/cash out and only trade p2p.”

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also took the time to comment on the incident and condemned that the government of Canada was failing to protect the rights of its citizens.

The country of El Salvador had recently received negative press from regulatory agencies for its decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

With these protests in Canada, the Salvadoran president took the opportunity to show how the media just wants to distract you from the real issues at hand such as governments preventing its citizens from freely using crypto however they want.

This recent order was enabled by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Emergency Act which essentially permits local regulators to freeze digital and crypto accounts of protestors.

TheCoinRepublic reports:

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele additionally took to Twitter to censure Canadian experts for causing the country to come up short as a highest level country in the a majority rules system file.

Bukele contended that the broadly detailed assumed Ukraine-Russia emergency is an interruption, while the genuine conflict against opportunity is going on in nations like Canada.

As recently detailed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau summoned the Emergencies Act on Monday, which permitted neighborhood controllers to freeze Freedom Convoy nonconformists ledgers and screen huge and dubious exchanges, including crypto.

The request explicitly broadened the extent of Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering and hostile to fear monger financing rules to cover crowdfunding stages and the installment processors they use.

This change covers all types of exchanges, including advanced resources like digital forms of money, FINTRAC said on Tuesday.

As a result of this, Kraken CEO and other crypto enthusiasts have mentioned that the government cannot freeze personal crypto wallets and that this would be the safest bet if more regulatory restrictions emerge in the future.

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