Canada plans to ban cryptocurrency political donations entirely

Techub News reports that CoinDesk states that the Canadian government proposed the “Strong and Free Elections Act” (Bill C-25) on March 26, aiming to completely ban the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for political donations, categorizing them alongside bearer instruments and prepaid payment tools as “difficult-to-trace” forms of funding. This ban covers registered parties, candidates, campaign teams, and third-party campaign advertising entities, meaning that cryptocurrencies will be fully excluded from the federal election financing system. Previously, Canada allowed crypto donations since 2019, but they were hardly utilized in the 2021 and 2025 federal elections. Regulators believe that the “pseudo-anonymity” of cryptocurrencies and the difficulty in tracing funds pose potential risks to election transparency. This move follows the recent temporary ban on crypto political donations in the UK, indicating a clear trend toward stricter regulation. According to the bill, any illegally received crypto donations must be returned or disposed of and remitted to the treasury within 30 days, with fines potentially reaching twice the amount of the violation plus a maximum penalty of CAD 100,000. The bill has now entered the first reading stage in the Canadian Parliament.