Canada Sanctions 34 Crypto Wallets Tied to Trucker 'Freedom Convoy'

Key Takeaways:

The protestors of ‘Freedom Convoy’ will not be able to receive the donations collected in the form of cryptocurrencies.
34 accounts tied to the protest has been ceased.
The protest has now been declared illegal.

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ has become messy after their funds were frozen twice. The protestors then started collecting donations in the form of Bitcoin to avoid further freezing of funds. They received donations of over 20 BTC, which is worth almost above $870,000. However, now the Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have directed all regulated financial firms to cease transactions from 34 specified wallets funding the protestors.

The protest started in late January against the international travel restrictions imposed by the Canadian government and asked all truckers to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Many organisations, including online crowdfunding platforms, were in support of the truckers but eventually withdrew it as the protestors started resorting to violence.

The protests have now been marked illegal under the Emergencies Act summoned by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This has happened for the first time since the law was passed in 1988.

The government administrative organisations are working with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to investigate the donations received in cryptocurrencies. The list of banned accounts includes 29 Bitcoin addresses, 1 Ethereum address, 1 Cardano address, 1 Ethereum Classic address, 1 Litecoin address, and 1 Monero address. In addition, CoinDesk has confirmed the authenticity of the copy of the order that was circulating on Twitter.