Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin did not justify the actions of the protesters in Canada, but noted that the measures of the authorities clearly illustrate why cryptocurrencies exist. In an interview CoinDesk he called decentralized systems “the return of the rule of law”.
“If truckers block roads and it destroys the economy, well, blocking roads is against the law, and there are laws for this case. […] If the government does not want to follow the laws and give people a chance to protect themselves, this is an example of how decentralized technologies are designed to make it harder for them. […] It’s not about lawlessness. In a sense, this is the return of the rule of law,” he said.
According to him, cryptocurrency is not a radical technology – it is designed to restore justice. Buterin stressed that the police and the government can operate within the legal framework, and the practice of using financial intermediaries to prosecute suspects is contrary to the letter of the law.
Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergency Act of 1988, which gives the government sweeping enforcement powers and allows banks to freeze the personal accounts of anyone associated with or supporting demonstrations without a court order.
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the aforementioned law applies “to crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers, […] all forms of transactions, including digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.”
On February 19, non-custodial wallet Nunchuk reported that the Supreme Court of Ontario issued an asset freeze and disclosure order to the company (Mareva Injunction or freezing injunction) of persons involved in protests.
Yesterday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sent us a Mareva Injunction, ordering us to freeze and disclose information about the assets involved in the #FreedomConvoy2022 movement.
Here is our official response. pic.twitter.com/iuxliXhN5y
— nunchuk_io (@nunchuk_io) February 19, 2022
In response to the court, the company emphasized that it does not provide custodial services, being a software developer that is distributed free of charge. The developers advised the authorities to study how non-custodial wallets and private keys work.
“We do not collect any user identification data other than email addresses. We don’t store them either. [приватные] keys. Therefore, we cannot “freeze” users’ assets, cannot prevent their movement, and do not have information about the origin, nature, volume [средств] or user locations. It’s designed that way,” Nunchuk wrote in the letter.
In the comments, one user noted that, according to terms of use Nunchuk, the company “reserves the right to access, read, store and disclose any information as it reasonably believes is necessary to satisfy the requirements of law, regulation or governmental request.”
@PaulChampLawsee this:
You are required by law if you operate in Canada, & since you have been granted “worldwide” access and use…You should learn about FINTRAC. Similar expanded KYC laws coming to you soon. BTW, you omitted/lied, you can freeze accounts, so do it. From nunchuk[.]io: pic.twitter.com/ZltZW7Iujv
— 🇨🇦Scott — Born 321.59 ppm♻️ (@ScottinVictoria) February 19, 2022
Formerly Supreme Court of Ontario prescribed freeze the assets of more than 120 different addresses and prevent transactions with the assets stored on them. Bull Bitcoin, TallyCoin, BitBuy, Shakepay, Satoshi Portal, Bylls, Binance Smartchain, PancakeSwap and Nunchuk were named among the “digital asset platforms and exchanges”.
Recall that the heads of the cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Binance warned that if law enforcement ordered to freeze the assets of clients without a court order, they would have to obey. They recommended the use of non-custodial wallets and decentralized platforms.
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