Canadian MP Trudeau activates Emergencies Act against the trucker protests and goes after Bitcoin donation campaign.
Just two weeks ago Justin Trudeau described the trucker protest as a “fringe minority” with “unacceptable views”, and disappeared. This week the Canadian PM returned to invoke the Emergencies Act, the most sweeping set of powers available to the prime minister to fight against the trucker protests and their Bitcoin supporters. But protesting isn’t the only thing that can make Canadians targets for the state. Crowdfunding and even the HonkHonkHodl Bitcoin donations now fall under the Terrorist Financing Act. The new measures also allow banks to freeze the accounts of their customers connected to the protests without due process.
Originally tweeted by True North (@TrueNorthCentre) on 14/02/2022.
Companies ordered to stop transactions with 34 wallets
According to The Counter Signal Canadian federal police are investigating multiple crypto wallets. FINTRAC regulated companies in Canada are ordered to cease transacting with 34 wallets that were used for donations with the biggest of them having over 21 BTC. The HonkHonkHodl campaign wallet on Talleycoin.
Bitcoin donation organizers become a target
The Bitcoin donation funds cannot be frozen or accessed by the government without access to the keys, but this clearly shows that they try to make these coins “untouchable” for legal entities. While this seems like more of a scare tactic than an effective measure there are also reports that the state has already targeted the organizers.
A Twitter user who claimed to work at a Canadian Bitcoin exchange reports that there was a memo sent to all employees specifically naming organizers and helpers of the HonkHonkHodl Bitcoin donation campaign and freezing their accounts.
Update: The information has not been confirmed and the initial tweet was removed.
An antifragility test for Bitcoin
Will these measures be successful to quell the protests? Can the HonkHonkHold Bitcoin donations still be used? What will happen to the organizers? What effects will this have on the Bitcoin community in general?
I think we will see a strong move towards improving privacy of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, while developing funding solutions for decentralized movements.
In light of all this unhinged government overreach it is clear that these aggressive measures only add to the government distrust, and even if Trudeau will be able to quell the trucker protests, the discontent and frustration in Canadian society will likely multiply and emerge somewhere else. It’s obvious now to everyone that centralized payment solutions and even banks cannot be trusted.
So over all, this is good for Bitcoin.
So far the truckers themselves are taking the possible loss of their bank accounts lightly. Trudeaus bluff will be called. How much further can he raise the stakes?
Originally tweeted by The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) on 16/02/2022.
The internet points out Trudeau’s hypocrisy
It did not take long for the online community to dig up an old tweet that points out Trudeau’s hypocrisy perfectly:
Memes and videos were also quick to follow:
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Originally tweeted by il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) on 15/02/2022.