Blockchain and cryptocurrency have a big backer in Canada.
Pierre Poilievre stopped by a restaurant in Ontario last week while on a Conservative leadership campaign tour. Poilievre bought a chicken shawarma with Bitcoin for the photo shoot. The move has been interpreted as part of an effort by Poilievre, who leads Canada’s opposition Conservative party, to promote himself as a pro-crypto.
Wanting to challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party in the upcoming elections, Poilievre said during a 20-minute speech in support of cryptocurrencies, “I want to take control of money from politicians and bankers and give it back to the people.”
The Conservative candidate, an ardent advocate of cryptocurrencies, said:
“Canadians should be able to use alternative currencies like Bitcoin, as the government is destroying the Canadian currency.”
Poilievre also urged voters to support him in “making Canada the blockchain capital of the world.”
Like some other central banks during the Great Recession, the Bank of Canada has used quantitative easing over the past two years to encourage lending and spending during the financial panic. This policy was phased out in October 2021.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin trading in Canada peaked in May 2018 and did not return to that level in 2019, 2020 or 2021, according to Statista data. This is evident from the analysis of Bitcoin transaction volumes in the country’s local currency. Despite this decline, Canada is estimated to be among the top 10 countries in the world that traded the most Bitcoin last year.
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