While there have been several conflicts in the Canadian capital lately, smiles were exchanged on video as some Bitcoin contributed to the ‘Freedom Convoy 2022’ reached the hands of a truck driver during a livestream.
Tim Pastoor was sitting in the vehicle of a protester on Friday, February 18, discussing the fight against Canada’s Covid-19 limitations when the trucker was given an envelope containing $8,000 Canadian Dollars worth of Bitcoin.
The truck driver was informed: “This contains $8,000 in Bitcoin. As soon as the banks ceased operations, we had several large contributors who need Bitcoin to be delivered to trucks. Essentially, open it up [the envelope]. There are instructions; all you need is a recovery code, which will direct you to download Blue Wallet.
Not your keys, and certainly not your cash
Truckers have been cautioned not to use a centralised cryptocurrency exchange to cash out the Bitcoin they got when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, since the monies are subject to a Mareva injunction, and breaking that order is a criminal act.
The Samourai Wallet’s Twitter account stated: “It is critical that any truckers who got Bitcoin from @HonkHonkHodl yesterday do not try to cash out via a centralised exchange. These money are subject to a Mareva restraining order, and violating that order is a crime.”
Similarly, Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of the crypto exchange Kraken, recommends consumers to withdraw their coins from custodial wallets in light of the latest events in Canada, in case Kraken is forced to freeze assets without court authorization.
“If you’re concerned about it, avoid any centralized/regulated custodian. We are unable to defend you. “Withdraw your coins/cash and engage in exclusively peer-to-peer trading,” Powell said.
Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin, the Russian-Canadian inventor of Ethereum, has described Canada’s use of banks to quell protests as “dangerous.”
Butering told CoinDesk that the Canadian government’s efforts to halt the flow of funds to protesting truckers in Canada exemplify why cryptocurrencies exist.
“If the government is unwilling to follow the law… [and] give people a chance to defend themselves… and instead wants to talk to the banks and basically take away people’s financial livelihoods without due process, that is the type of thing that decentralised technology is designed to make more difficult,” Vitalik explained.
He continued: “This notion of pursuing intermediates and using intermediaries to circumvent all of that is harmful…> Having decentralised alternatives to intermediaries is a good approach to mitigate the impact.”
Notably, Canadian authorities restricted over 30 cryptocurrency wallets affiliated with the ‘Freedom Convoy’ truckers earlier this week, as crypto became a major method of donating to the truckers after GoFundMe’s decision not to disperse $9 million earned on its site.
Also Read: The CEO Of Kraken Advises Cryptocurrency Users To Avoid Centralized Exchanges
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