The situation in Canada is interesting for the crypto community. Namely, it shows how a government deals with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) in a situation where it is trying to seize financial resources. And in recent days it became clear that Canadian authorities are not so sure what to do with it!
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**Canada is on the heels of truckers and supporters**
In Canada, a large group of truckers protested for a long time by blocking cities, border crossings and bridges with their trucks. The action could count on quite some support in Canada and worldwide. The truckers received many donations, also in the form of crypto. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau activated the controversial and draconian Emergencies Act, authorities were able to freeze bank accounts and obtain data without the intervention of a judge. This is to deal with the support and consequences of the protest.
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**Freezing Bitcoin Wallets**
So in recent days there have been plenty of articles in crypto news about how Canadian authorities are going after the truckers. But remarkably, they don’t seem to fully understand how crypto works. Nunchuk, a wallet developer recently received an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to “freeze” bitcoin wallets of truckers and “release data.” Such actions are obviously impossible for a wallet developer. In a response, Nunchuk let the court know:
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*”We do not collect user identification information other than email addresses. We also do not have keys. Therefore, we cannot “freeze” our users’ assets. We cannot “prevent” them from being moved. We have no knowledge of “the existence, nature, value and location” of our users’ assets. This is by design.”*
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If one has bitcoin in one’s own wallet, no one can access it unless they have access to the private key. Keep this private key safe at all times and do not share it with anyone.
This is showing two major things-
1) it outlines just how ignorant the people making crypto regulations really are.
2) the power of keeping your money in your own crypto wallets, it’s literally impossible for people to freeze it, or steal it from you without the input of your own human error.
Another great reason to get your coins off an exchange and in to a private wallet.
If the country your exchange is in wants to freeze your crypto, the exchange will have to comply and there will be nothing you can do about it.
If you own the keys in a private wallet, then unless you give up your seed phrase, no one is getting them from you.
You guys are insane.
Let’s have a little hypothetical here. I live in Canada. I purchase bitcoin from an exchange in Canada and then transfer it to a private wallet. Protests happen, and I decide to send some bitcoin wallet to wallet to support protestors.
Now, which scenario do you think happens?
A) the government can’t stop me, I do what I want. They pound sand, frustrated that I have outsmarted them. Or….
B) the government gets an order for crypto exchanges to disclose the identity of my wallet, since the government can tell the funds came from their exchange. The exchange discloses since they won’t be shut down over this, and I get railroaded by the government just the same.
The only way bitcoin is private is if you mine it yourself and it never touches an exchange. Otherwise it can be traced just like the fiat you used to buy it. You can probably trace it more than that, I don’t know for sure.
“But I buy on unregulated exchanges that don’t submit to the jurisdiction of Canada.” As soon as you start taking profits, the CRA will be on your ass for tax avoidance regardless of who you send your crypto to.
As far as I am aware, the legislation has been used to freeze recipients’ accounts, not donors’.
Someone here please explain to me how using bitcoin takes you off the government’s radar and shields you from consequences. As far as I can tell it just adds a few extra steps between your actions and accountability. You’re hoping the government gets lost?
I think I’ve seen this response from Nunchuck more than 10 times on this sub the past couple days.
I like the response as much as any crypto guy but wtf?
It’s a bit concerning that a progressive first world country like Canada is trying to do this in the first place
There’s a reason that our government is going so hard at these convoy idiots and their supporters.
Why do so many people here want them to continue receiving crypto donations? We don’t want Americans/republicans/conservatives/or whoever the fuck donated funding blockades and unrest in our country.
pwned.
I remember when coinbase was just a trading platform, you could literally trade gift cards for bitcoin. wallets were the minority, straight private key transactions. you cant use crypto without a middle man now. they even took down all the original information. evil rules the world unfortunately the people wanted it though, or so they think.
A high powered cluster attack would render their surveillance apparatus almost completely irrelevant. It would blind them & whatever algorithm used to analyze the chains.
It’s going to be a very bright future!
Someone doesn’t know the first thing about crypto…. Do they?
This is not good for cryptocurrency market in Canada.
This year is like a competition between countries to see who can get more hated
Canada can freeze anything itself surely. Bloody cold up there.
> The action could count on quite some support in Canada and worldwide.
You should note that those in support of the truckers were a vast minority of Canadians. Heck, the convoy was made up of the vast minority of truckers.
I’m not going to argue for the freezing of assets, but a lot of sources are misrepresenting the situation as if the Canadian Gov was cracking down on truckers unprovoked. Thousands of Canadians were harassed and left stuck in their homes by the convoy.
The protests were mainly right wing financed horseshit with no support of anyone with half a brain cell. When they turned into blockages the state had at one point to step up. C’est la vie
Not related to this goofy request, but let’s be clear that these aren’t truckers. There are some truckers mixed in with a selection of Canada’s far-right misfits.
I don’t want the reputation of truckers to get smeared with poop from these assholes, and I don’t want them stealing the valour of actual blue collar workers by LARPing as them.
https://www.trucknews.com/blogs/the-so-called-freedom-convoy-was-never-about-truckers-or-border-mandates/
https://teamsters.ca/en/blog/2022/02/07/the-real-enemy-for-truckers-is-covid-19/
I wonder how many countries are going yo try to ban Bitcoin, before it becomes common knowledge to them that they simply can’t.
The Canadian government is too ignorant to actually care
The sad thing is that is a lot of money donated in BTC and someone that took advantage of this so called protest and created this BTC Wallet will make a lot of money for actually just fucking up the country by blocking a lot of roads and creating chaos in traffic and making a lot of businesses lose a lot of money
Hopefully this idiot at least gets jail time
Old news
Freeze deez
I am glad that I don’t live in a country like Canada, that’s mess.
a large group of truckers
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No, a few truckers and mostly cars
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