Kraken CEO says the exchange will be forced to comply with crypto freezing in Canada

The protesting Canadian truckers have been forced to turn to Bitcoin (BTC/USD), and other cryptocurrencies as funding platforms such as GoFundMe sized their donations due to increased pressure from the Canadian government.

However, these truckers might find it hard to use crypto to support their Freedom Convoy protest as the Canadian government turns its attention to freezing their crypto wallets.

Kraken CEO says the exchange will be complaint to Canadian laws

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The CEO of Kraken, Jesse Powell, has taken to Twitter to advise users affiliated with the protest to withdraw their crypto or fiat from the exchange. In response to whether Kraken would freeze accounts of users associated with the protests, Powell said, “It has/will happen.”

He said,

We will be forced to comply. If you’re worried about it, don’t keep your funds with any centralized/regulated custodian. We cannot protect you. Get your coins/cash out and only trade p2p [peer-to-peer].

Kraken will do this to comply with the Canadian regulatory framework. However, Powell has shown support for the Freedom Convoy protest, as he has donated one Bitcoin to the cause. At the time, Powell said, “fix the money, fix the world. Thank you for leading by example. Mandates are immoral. End the madness.”

Canada confiscates 34 crypto wallets

The Freedom Convoy protest has been deemed illegal per the Emergencies Act invoked by Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. The prime minister has also authorized the freezing of bank accounts associated with the protestors without needing a court order.

The seizure also applied to cryptocurrency wallets. The Ontario Provisional Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) recently imposed sanctions against 34 cryptocurrency wallets associated with the protests.

Cryptocurrency exchanges have also been ordered to block transactions associated with the 34 crypto wallets. The wallets include 29 Bitcoin (BTC/USD) addresses, one Ethereum (ETH/USD) address, one Monero (XMR/USD) address, one Litecoin (LTC/USD) address, one Cardano (ADA/USD) address and one Ethereum Classic (ETC/USD) address. Over 20 BTC has been donated to the cause.

“All crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use now must register with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and must report large and suspicious transactions to FINTRAC,” RCMP said.