There are different rules being imposed in Canada regarding the crypto world and so much more. These changes are being made in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the economy of the country.
The latest addition to the list of changes would have to be the important Terrorist Funding rules and regulations in the country of Canada. Seen from a broad perspective, it can be said that these rules basically provide the power to oversee the transactions of crypto, and hence the bank is also able to freeze different bank accounts.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau has managed to invoke the very well-known Emergencies Act in Canada that has provided the power to the government for freezing the bank accounts of different Protestors from the Freedom Convoy and also monitoring the different suspicious and large transactions that also include cryptocurrency.
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland has mentioned in a press conference on the 14th of February that the different tactical maneuvers that have been taken against the different protestors would broaden the entire scope of the Terrorist Funding rules.
The main goal of the rules is to target all the platforms where crowdfunding tends to take place. Also, these changes would target the payment services that are used by the platforms of crowdfunding.
“These changes cover all forms of transactions including digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.”, said Chrystia, according to CNN Crypto news today.
Together, these protestors have actually managed to gain about $19 million in funds with the help of different fundraising platforms such as GiveSendGo and GoFundMe. However, these particular funds that have been scammed by other people have actually been blocked from going out of the reach of the people and reaching the protestors that belong to the Freedom Convoy. This led them to conduct something called the Fundraising round with Bitcoin or BTC.
The HonkHonk Hodl group has managed to raise 22 BTC valued at nearly $1 million through the Tallycoin BTC fundraising platform. HonkHonk Hodl closed their Tallycoin page on Feb. 15 because they had exceeded their fundraising goal. Those funds are still expected to be distributed to protesters.
GoFundMe cooperated with Canadian officials and refunded donors, but GiveSendGo has experienced an information leak exposing the identity of “thousands of names of those who donated to the Freedom Convoy” according to The Daily Dot writer Michael Thalen. There is no word yet on the fate of the Convoy’s funds.
BBC News reported that Quebec Premier Francois Legault said prior to Trudeau’s announcement that invoking the Emergencies Act could “throw oil on the fire.” However, Trudeau insisted the emergency powers would be “applied temporarily and in a highly specific manner.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association contended today that the Prime Minister has overstepped his authority by invoking the Emergencies Act. It said, “The federal government has not met the threshold necessary to invoke the Emergencies Act.”
“This law creates a high and clear standard for good reason: the Act allows the government to bypass ordinary democratic processes. This standard has not been met.”
For now, it is still unclear as to what specific payments will be blocked. In the press conference, Freeland only noted that all crowdfunding platforms are required to report “large and suspicious transactions” to Fintrac, The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.
Crypto supporters such as Pylon Holding Company founder Preston Pysh have shared sardonic delight at the possibilities for adoption that the Freedom Convoy has made apparent. Pysh tweeted today in response to Freeland, “What an advertisement for Bitcoin.” BTC prices have reacted with a 2.6% gain over the past couple of hours to trade at $43,667 at the time of writing.
