The national police in Canada has sent letters to crypto exchanges in which they have been asked to freeze approximately 34 crypto addresses. These addresses are believed to be associated with the Freedom Convoy protests that were recently carried out in Canada under the Emergency Act that had been revoked recently by Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister. Letters have also been sent to banks about ‘designated persons’ who were connected to the protests, as the police are making all possible efforts to take back Ottawa.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the federal police force in Canada, has sent these letters to financial institutions, including crypto exchanges and banks, with a list of crypto addresses and individuals. The letter that was sent to crypto exchanges demanded that the platforms stop facilitating transactions for the 34 crypto wallet addresses that were sent. The RCMP claimed that these wallet addresses were connected to the Freedom Convoy protests. THE RCMP said that it was conducting an investigation with the Ontario Provincial Police into crypto donations that had been collected in relation to the illegal activities that had resulted in the Emergency Act being put into effect.
The letter said that in accordance with the Emergency Economic Measures Order, it was the duty of the crypto exchanges to stop facilitating transactions related to the crypto addresses mentioned. It should be noted that there are 29 Bitcoin addresses and two of them are ethereum addresses from the total 34 addresses that had been highlighted in the letter. The remaining three wallet addresses are related to litecoin (LTC), monero (XMR) and cardano (ADA). There was one wallet that contained bitcoin worth $1 million and had been part of the Honkhonkhodl campaign for offering support to truckers. The publication stated that the transactions conducted by each wallet were between $0 and $1.1 million.
The RCMP further said that the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police should be informed of any transaction, or any proposed transaction related to the addresses mentioned. The RCMP had reportedly sent a different type of letter to other financial institutions, including banks. This letter to banks highlighted about 20 people that have been identified by the police as being involved in activities that were connected to the Freedom Convoy protests. The letter also includes summaries and pictures of the people, some of which are believed to be organizers of the protests.
The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) gave confirmation that letters have been received by banks from the RCMP about ‘designated people’. Financial institutions are now required to disclose the banking details of these customers, along with transaction records to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or the RCMP. However, it is up to them to decide whether to cut off services, or to freeze accounts. The Emergencies Act had been invoked on Monday by the Canadian Prime Minister for dealing with the protests happening in Ottawa. This gives additional powers to law enforcement for responding to the continued protests and blockades against the pandemic restrictions.
