- Canadian regulators are “aware” of tweets from crypto execs advising users to self-custody their coins
- Jesse Powell and Brian Armstrong both said that freezing orders were imminent
- The Canadian police has now been made aware of the advice, which would circumnavigate recent emergency orders
Canadian regulators have passed onto police recent advice offered by high profile individuals within the cryptocurrency exchange space that users should move their coins off their own products to avoid them being seized. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong have both recently stated that they would be forced to comply with any seizure orders made by law enforcement agencies and that the only way for individuals to protect their holdings is by holding them in their own wallets. This has riled regulators who have now informed police.
Canadian Regulators Have Made Police Aware of Tweets
Canadian regulators became involved in the debate after exchange CEOs Powell and Armstrong advised users that the only way to protect their funds was to stop using their own products and keep their holdings in their own wallets:
“captured” being the key word. Crowdfunding platforms now regulated under the Canadian Terrorist Financing Act. Do you see where this is going? Please do not fund causes directly from custodial wallets. I’m sure freeze orders are coming. Withdraw to non-custodial before sending. https://t.co/OBDFbrUpBy
— Jesse Powell (@jespow) February 15, 2022
Concerning to see stuff like this happening in any country, especially such an economically free place like Canada.
Self-custodial wallets are important! ->https://t.co/ppIvaIcWWh https://t.co/nJw2EhyJhd
— Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) February 15, 2022
These tweets have antagonized The Ontario Securities Commission, which, according to the Regina Leader-Post, has contacted law enforcement agencies, suggesting that the regulator thinks that Powell and Armstrong could be inciting a kind of financial insurrection. Kristen Rose, the OSC’s Manager of Public Affairs, told the Leader-Post that it was “aware” of the posts and has “shared it with the RCMP and relevant federal authorities”.
Exchanges Ordered to Report User Activity
The emergency orders, which were announced on Monday, have sent ripples of anger through the crypto community and have even caused those who previously denigrated the cryptocurrency space to change their tune literally overnight.
The measures called for a broad range of financial entities, including crypto platforms, to continuously monitor for any activity connected to “designated persons” and report any such action to law enforcement and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). This includes individuals who “use, collect, provide, make available, or invite a person to provide” property in support of the protesters.
The Leader-Post says that the RCMP has sent a list of cryptocurrency addresses associated with the trucker protests to exchanges and asked them to freeze and report any such transactions to them.
