Bitcoin Fund For Freedom Convoy Action Blocked By Canadian Government

Funds in Bitcoin for Freedom Convoy, blocked. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Provincial Government of Ontario in Canada has been given an order from the High Court to freeze millions of dollars in donations on the GiveSendGo platform from reaching Freedom Convoy protesters.

This is the second time the truck driver has been denied access to funds since GoFundMe froze $10 million in donations last week and then returned donors' funds after a backlash.

The latest attempt to quash protests relates to donations made to the "Freedom Convoy 2022" and "Adopt-a-Trucker" pages on the GiveSendGo fundraising platform. As of Thursday, “Freedom Convoy 2022” had raised $8.4 million and "Adopt-a-Trucker" had raised $686.000.

Post Millennial writer Ian Miles Cheong tweeted today: “Bitcoin fixes this… They should make cryptocurrency illegal in Canada.”

Benjamin Dichter, one of the fundraising organizers, agrees with Cheong. He tweeted today that, “This is great for Bitcoin.”

Cointelegraph reports, A group of backers previously formed a dedicated HonkHonk Hodl organization to help the convoy raise funds in Bitcoin. The group has raised 21 BTC (902.000 US dollars).

Bitcoin payment processor OpenNode wrote last year that the BTC payment solution is a viable alternative for people who have been censored by traditional payment methods.

“One of the benefits of Bitcoin is its censorship resistance. With no central authority to dictate who can and cannot use Bitcoin, Bitcoin has proven to be the currency of choice for many individuals and organizations that have been left out of traditional payment methods.”

OpenNode writes that accepting BTC donations spreads awareness about Bitcoin among donors and recipients, and encourages adoption.

But there is debate over whether the Ontario government can afford to freeze the funds. GiveSendGo tweeted today that the Canadian government has no control over how funds are managed on the US-based platform. The company assured protesters that: "All funds for EVERY campaign on GiveSendGo goes directly to the recipients of that campaign."

However, Toronto Sun political columnist Brian Lilly points out that although GiveSendGo is based in Boston, a Canadian court order prevents Canadians from accessing the funds. He said, “Pulling it in the US and sending it here would be a violation.”