The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) believes that Brian Armstrong and Jesse Powell’s crypto-related activities were directed against the Canadian authorities.
OSC spokeswoman Kristen Rose said in an email that the agency is “aware” of a number of critical tweets to the Canadian government by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Kraken CEO Jesse Powell. Rose added that the agency has reported the publications to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and relevant authorities.
The interest of the Canadian regulator in two significant figures in the cryptocurrency industry is due to the fact that in recent weeks Armstrong and Powell have posted a lot of messages on Twitter against the Canadian government’s response to protests related to restrictions due to COVID-19. Mostly in their publications, they criticized the ability of banks to block the accounts of users who are members of initiative groups to support protests without a court order.
Canadian regulators have paid close attention to publications in which the CEOs of Coinbase and Kraken recommended that users who are members of initiative groups use cryptocurrency. Yes, Armstrong. named actions of the Canadian authorities aimed at blocking bank accounts, “causing concern” and provided a link to the Coinbase wallet. Powell’s messages were more radical – he advised initiative organizations to use cryptocurrency wallets that cannot be blocked.
“Crowdfunding platforms are now regulated under Canada’s Terrorist Financing Act. Do you see where it’s all going? Please do not fund directly from custodial wallets. I’m sure freeze orders are coming in. To send, use cryptocurrency wallets that cannot be controlled, ”wrote the CEO of Kraken.
In addition, Powell directly sent money for protesters through the TallyCoin crowdfunding platform. Initiative groups have raised almost $1 million in cryptocurrency for the Freedom Convoy. Now the platform’s page is blocked, and its organizers face legal charges.
Last week, the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, amid the blocking of the bank accounts of protesters in Canada, drew attention to the benefits of cryptocurrencies in situations where the law is violated. Amid protests from truckers, Canadian authorities have said they plan to bring the country’s system of financial monitoring of operations with crypto assets in line with the provisions of the legislation on terrorism.
Source: Bits
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