Honk, Honk, Hodl: How Bitcoin Fueled The Freedom Convoy And Defied Government Crackdown By Peter Chawaga This article is featured in the newly launched Bitcoin Magazine Print Censorship Resistant Issue. What better a day for a reflection on the Freedom Convoy, than Canada day. At the beginning of the year, a convoy of Canadian long-haul trucks, over 3,000, and other protestors converged on the country's capital of Ottawa, blocking its streets and making a call for freedom. Canada has been subdued due to strong regulations throughout the entire pandemic, and the truckers had especially felt the increase of restrictions from government impositions and the increases of oil and gas taxes — but the vaccine mandate was the straw that broke the camel's back. As the movement grew, and more people joined the protest in person, others wanted to cooperate by donating via crowdfunding websites, only to find out the government was getting directly involved in the transmission of funds, to the extent of freezing the bank accounts of individuals. Here is where Bitcoin shone, offering a permissionless avenue, and allowing people to realize that the option exists, that there is no longer a need to have money that is centrally controlled, that if desired, we all have the freedom to transact. “Three years ago, if you had asked me what’s the chance that Canada would freeze individuals’ bank accounts… I’d find it really hard to believe it was 20%.. And three years later, it’s 100%... It was not a good thing for freedom.” – Greg Foss |