Canada plans to ban cryptocurrency political donations; the relevant bill has entered its first reading.
PANews reported on March 29th, citing CoinDesk, that although Canada has allowed crypto donations since 2019, they were virtually non-existent in the 2021 and 2025 federal elections. Regulators believe that the "pseudo-anonymity" and difficulty in tracing funds of crypto assets pose a potential risk to election transparency, thus moving towards a complete ban. It is understood that the Canadian government introduced the Strong and Free Elections Act (Bill C-25) on March 26th, proposing a complete ban on the use of crypto assets such as Bitcoin for political donations, classifying them, along with money orders and prepaid payment instruments, as "difficult-to-trace" forms of funds. This ban covers registered political parties, candidates, campaign teams, and third-party campaign advertising entities, meaning that crypto assets will be completely excluded from the federal election financing system. This move follows the UK's recent temporary ban on crypto political donations, clearly indicating a trend towards stricter regulation.
According to the bill, any crypto donations received in violation of regulations must be returned or disposed of and turned over to the national treasury within 30 days. The maximum fine can be twice the amount of the violation, plus an additional penalty of up to $100,000. The bill is currently in its first reading in Parliament.
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