Canada Chokes Crypto Supply, Freezes $20 Million In Bitcoin Donated To Truckers

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 08:53:50 +0000

As Canada starts to clamp down on the crypto supply flowing into the Freedom Convoy’s coffers, protest leaders and truckers now face a harsh reality on the ground.

Faced with the turmoil caused by massive protests, roadblocks, and other acts of resistance in Canada’s capital city, an outraged group of Ottawa locals has filed a class action lawsuit against the organizers of the protest movement.

The convoy began when a group of truckers drove from the west coast of Canada to Ottawa to protest mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for truck drivers.

Truckers shut down bridges and border crossings, costing the Canadian government more than $500,000 in daily trade with the United States.

Ottawa residents claim the protests have affected their livelihood and way of life, thus the solution is to seek the court’s help for some sort of “remuneration” for the damage it caused them.

According to estimates, the demonstrators were able to pump up their crypto supply to roughly $10 million on a GoFundMe campaign before the fundraising platform removed the page.

Since then, fund-raising has become more innovative, with protestors increasingly using bitcoins to further their cause.

BTC total market cap at $764.19 billion in the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

Ottawans Vs. Canadian Truckers

Now, Ottawans are suing for up to $20 million of the total amount raised in donations globally to be divided to city residents.

The Canadian government is currently engaged in a continuous campaign to seize the funds of protestors.

Redistribution would take place only if the lawsuit filed against the convoy organizers is successful.

Judge Calum MacLeod of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice signed a Mareva Injunction on Friday, freezing crypto assets at over 120 different addresses associated with Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Monero.

Binance Smartchain, BitBuy, Bull Bitcoin, Bylls, TallyCoin, Shakepay, Satoshi Portal, Nunchuk, and PancakeSwap are among the digital asset platforms and exchanges comprising the list.

Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told journalists on Friday that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had also ordered crypto exchanges to freeze specific addresses.

Crypto Supply Frozen

MacLeod directed that banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, money remittance businesses, fundraising platforms or websites, and holders of any cryptocurrency wallets immediately halt all transactions in connection with the convoy’s accounts and e-wallets.

In Canada and Britain, an injunction is a court order that freezes a defendant’s assets to prevent them from being hidden, spent, or transferred prior to a ruling being rendered.

Additionally, the Mareva order provides that defendants who violate it may be placed in contempt of court and suffer jail time, fines, or asset forfeiture.

Keith Wilson, a legal counsel for the convoy leaders, confirmed through email Friday that they had not been served with the order or accompanying court paper.

The Battle Continues

Despite the stronger government response, demonstrators vow to keep their battle until the Canadian government eases all pandemic restrictions.

Meanwhile, the movement has escalated into a massive anti-government and anti-Trudeau uprising, with many protestors advocating for a continuous campaign of opposition until the prime minister resigns.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made history Tuesday by invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time, granting law enforcement agencies additional authority in an attempt to put an end to the upheaval.

Featured image from Crypto Upline, chart from TradingView.com

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Ethereum Co-Founder Donated $1B Shiba Inu To Aid India In COVID-19 Battle — Money Reaching The People Is A Lot Less

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 10:06:12 +0000

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s donation of $1 billion in Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) coins to an India Covid-19 relief fund about two months ago has been slow in reaching the people due to several issues, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

What Happened: Only about $20 million of the donation has been paid so far, while another $20 million is in the pipeline, the report quoted Sandeep Nailwal, the founder of the India Covid Crypto Relief Fund that received the donation, as saying in an interview.

Nailwal noted a 50% crash in the price of the Shiba Inu coins following Buterin’s donation, compliance with India’s strict regulations and cautious disbursement of the money as the top issues related to the donation.

See Also: How To Buy Shiba Inu (SHIB)

The fund has been cautious in converting the tokens into dollars and then to Indian rupees in order to comply with the country’s regulations and has completed about 80% of the conversions so far, Nailwal was quoted as saying.

Nailwal also plans to hire an audit firm for complete transparency and to ensure the money reaches the grass-roots level, the report noted.

Why It Matters: It was reported in May that 50 trillion Shiba Inu tokens, worth around $1.2 billion, were donated by Buterin to the India Covid Relief Fund. Buterin also donated over $2 million worth of Ethereum along with the Shiba Inu tokens to the fund.

Meme coins that were inspired by Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), including Shiba Inu, saw their valuations fall after it was revealed that Buterin had regifted tokens that were donated to him. Buterin’s gift of the 50 trillion Shiba Inu coins amounted to 5% of the coins in circulation.

Nevertheless, the donation came at a time when India was struggling with record daily coronavirus infections. While cryptocurrency is not illegal in India, it is unregulated.

Price Action: Ethereum is up almost 3.8% during the last 24 hours, trading at $2,300.53 at press time, while Shiba Inu traded 0.8% higher at $0.000006302 over the last 24 hours.