Bitcoin - Enemy of the State with BTC Sessions

“He messaged me, and he said: ‘Hey, man, I’m on a backup phone, just so you know, police just raided my house and they literally took everything. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.’ And I’m thinking: is that about to happen to me?”— BTC SessionsBTC Sessions (Ben Perrin), is a Canadian Bitcoin educator with a well-known YouTube channel. In this interview, we discuss his experiences as part of a group of Bitcoiners organising Bitcoin funds for Canadian truckers being targeted by the Canadian government. - - - - In January, a large group of Canadian truckers took part in convoys to protest against their government's Covid vaccination mandates for cross-border movements. The protests grew and the convoys converged on Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. Thousands of trucks and protestors blocked the streets. It divided opinion: some Ottawans called for Government action, whilst the protest inspired copycat activities and prominent support in other countries. The Canadian government reacted with some of the most draconian responses to activism seen in any democracy. On February 14th they invoked the Emergencies Act designed to provide legal cover for government actions required in major national emergencies such as war, invasion or insurrection. It was only the 2nd time such actions had been used in peacetime. Attention was focused on the funding sources, with dozens of bank accounts linked to the protest movements being frozen. As a result, a Bitcoin fundraising initiative suddenly took centre stage as the vehicle for getting funds of any description to the truckers. This Bitcoin funding and the associated group managing it then became a target for the Canadian authorities. Ben takes us through what was a rapidly evolving and extremely stressful situation, where a group of well-meaning Bitcoiners found themselves becoming enemies of the state. Did Bitcoin stand up to scrutiny? Bitcoin did provide truckers with a financial lifeline. And, whilst there were issues that occurred, there are some very important caveats. The initial set-up of the Bitcoin fund wasn’t with a view to it being the primary source of finance. Further, nobody expected the unprecedented actions taken by the Canadian government. Nevertheless, invaluable lessons have been learned. There is a clear view of the processes required to protect funds and those involved. More importantly, activists now know what actions the state, any state, is prepared to take.- - - - This episode’s sponsors:Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantlyLedn - Financial services for Bitcoin hodlersBitcasino - The Future of Gaming is hereFidelity - Careers in cryptoLedger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware walletWasabi Wallet - Privacy by defaultBCB Group - Global digital financial Services-----WBD592 - Show Notes-----If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contributeMake a tip:Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2SQR Codes: BitcoinIf you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank youSubscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS FeedLeave a review on iTunesShare the show and episodes with your friends and familySubscribe to the newsletter on my websiteFollow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTubeIf you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.