Canada Sanctions 34 Crypto Wallets Tied to Trucker 'Freedom Convoy'
The Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police ordered all regulated financial firms to cease facilitating any transactions from 34 crypto wallets tied to funding trucker-led protests in the country.
The federal police agencies, working with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), are investigating cryptocurrency donations supporting the weeks-long protest against Canada’s vaccine mandate. The protests are now deemed illegal under the Emergencies Act invoked by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the first time since the law was passed in 1988.
The truck drivers began their protest near the end of January against international travel restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, which requires all entrants to the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The truckers blocked international bridges and border crossings in several Canadian provinces.
The list consists of 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 confirmed 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.
The Emergencies Act was set to take aim at protester finances. Speaking alongside Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said banks can immediately freeze or suspend bank accounts tied to the truckers without a court order and without fear of civil liability.
The RCMP and FINTRAC did not immediately return a request for comment.
