Yet again, a spin has arisen in the case of the frozen Bitcoin (BTC) tied to Canadian truckers protesting Ottawa’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Donations in Bitcoin (BTC) that were given to the Freedom Convoy were moved thus defying the order to freeze funds by Canadian authorities, blockchain research has shown.
Reportedly, nearly all of the roughly 20 Bitcoin (BTC), equivalent to about $788,000 that contributed to the Tallycoin fundraiser has been transferred, with only 0.11 Bitcoin (BTC) left out of the total amount.
Furthermore, per Crystal Blockchain analytics system data, out of the majority of 34 crypto wallets being detected as being involved in the fundraising of this month by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), 16 of them were considerably drained, with only 6 Bitcoin (BTC) pooled. Whether the recipients of the funds will be able to utilize the funds for goods and services is yet to be seen.
Furthermore, an examination of the public ledger reveals that four minor portions of the roughly 20 Bitcoin (BTC) received (each valued at roughly 0.14 Bitcoin (BTC))– ended up at Coinbase and Crypto.com. It is still a question of whether the assets were paid out for fiat or if they are still locked in on said exchanges.
This situation demonstrates the limitations of a government’s ability to obstruct payments on decentralized platforms, including the limitations of the capability of said systems to circumvent these and possibly other penalties.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has issued an order prohibiting cryptocurrency exchanges from advertising self-custodial wallets to users. In an attempt to stem the flow of cash to the protesters, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued Nunchuk a self-custodial Bitcoin (BTC) wallet as well as a Mareva Injunction, directing it to freeze and divulge details about the funds connected in the initiative of Freedom Convoy during 2022.
Government officials do not have the power to block transactions on Bitcoin (BTC) and other networks, but they do have control over the centralized exchanges that these networks use as entrances and exits.
On February 16, the Canadian police issued an order for all Canada-licensed financial institutions to stop allowing transactions for 34 wallets that had been identified as being related to the protests.
Certain amounts of funds were subsequently distributed to unidentified individuals in the night prior to being moved to centralized exchanges Coinbase and Crypto.com, either through using intermediary addresses or directly.
Oddly enough, while the authorities search for cryptocurrencies transferring through cryptocurrency trading platforms, and non-custodial wallets, it has been revealed that Ontario police officials are among the Freedom Convoy contributors on a leaked list. Though the police in Ottawa were unsuccessful in stopping the protests earlier this month, several members of the force were actively assisting the protesters via monetary donations.
Seemingly, 15 members of the police forces across the three biggest police units in the province in a pool of 100,000 donors were identified on GiveSendGo, the crowdfunding site from February 5 until presently. These identified police officials donated anywhere from $20-$200.