Canada’s federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), has blocked companies registered with the anti-money laundering agency FinTrac from transacting with 34 crypto addresses found to be associated with the Freedom Convoy.
As Canadian truckers’ protesters continue, a new one has been added to government sanctions. Law enforcement prevented companies registered with FinTrac and operating under license in the country from transacting with 34 crypto addresses associated with the protesters. Companies must register with FinTrac in order to offer financial services in Canada.
BitBuy, a crypto-asset trading platform registered with FinTrac, has confirmed that it has received such an emergency order, as reported by The Block.
Blocked addresses include 29 Bitcoin, 1 Ethereum, 1 Litecoin, 1 Ethereum Classic, 1 Cardano and 1 Monero address.
What Happened?
Canadian truckers protesting the coronavirus restrictions were collecting their protest donations through GoFundMe, a fundraising site. However, the campaign was stopped by police pressure and the funds were returned to the donors. Then donations began to be collected with Bitcoin.
However, this time the Canadian Government introduced the Emergency Act to prevent protesters from reaching donations. While the law includes fundraising platforms and crypto transactions within the scope of money laundering laws; it allowed banks to freeze accounts without a court order.
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