- Sanctions imposed by the Trudeau government have led to Canadian truckers being unable to cash out their bitcoin
- Millions has been raised for the “freedom convoy” truckers, but many can’t access their share
- The experience of the Canadian truckers highlights how Bitcoin is still nowhere near large scale adoption
Canadian truckers who received Bitcoin donations are finding it harder and harder to cash out their donations thanks to financial sanctions placed upon them. Vice reported on Tuesday that some of the Canadian truckers who took part in the “freedom convoy” are having trouble turning the bitcoin into cash because the sanctions imposed by the Trudeau administration mean that banks have been instructed not to accept payments from cryptocurrency exchanges. This has left truckers with few legal routes to making the most of their donations.
Emergency Powers Limit Canadian Truckers’ Options
When it was revealed that the Canadian government had enacted emergency powers and essentially cut the freedom convoy truckers from the financial system, sympathizers began to organize Bitcoin donations. This led to millions of dollars being raised and split over hundreds of addresses, with some Canadian truckers being handed physical envelopes with details of how to claim their own slice of the donation pool.
This, however, is where the problems seem to have started. With Bitcoin still not widely accepted by online retailers and even less so by physical outlets, the Canadian truckers have had to find a way to turn the bitcoin into cash.
Naturally they turned to exchanges, which are the easiest way of cashing out crypto, but many are finding that when they try to withdraw the resultant CAD to their bank accounts their requests are being rejected due to the sanctions imposed upon them. This leaves them with thousands of dollars sitting uselessly on crypto exchanges.
Lack of Options Shows That Bitcoin Has a Way to Go
The only way the Canadian truckers can cash out their bitcoin now is to sell it peer-to-peer, personally arranging sales either in person or over the internet, but as those who bought and sold bitcoin in its early years can testify, this is not exactly a fun (or safe) business.
The experience of the Canadian truckers is a reminder that, for all the leaps that Bitcoin has made in recent years, mainstream adoption is still so low that when it can’t be swapped for cash it has very limited actual usage.
