'You'd better buy some Bitcoin' — BTC figures defy Canada gov't as ETF assets hit record
Canada's war on Bitcoin (BTC) appears to be backfiring as the country's flagship exchange-traded fund (ETF) adds thousands of BTC.
Data from on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass shows that over the two weeks to Feb. 24, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF has increased its holdings from 28,854 BTC to 32,257 BTC — 11.8%.
After a two-month lull in which its holdings actually modestly decreased, Purpose is back in fashion among institutional investors.
The about-turn comes against a backdrop of what many are calling an "advertisement" for Bitcoin — the Canadian government blacklisting private wallets and formally trying to silence exchanges advising users to take control of their private keys.
The reason is the lawmakers' goal to monitor and seize the financial assets of anyone contributing to — or associated with those contributing to — the trucker protest movement.
"Canada warning everyone to get their coins off the exchanges because they will take them is the most incredible advertisement for Bitcoin I’ve seen in my entire life," podcast host Dennis Porter wrote this week.
Samson Mow, CSO of Blockstream, meanwhile took aim at the recent decision to keep the emergency powers that enabled the surveillance in force ad infinitum.
"Canada is a cautionary tale for why money needs to be money, and not a tool for surveillance. What's legal or illegal can change with a hand wave of emergency powers," he warned.
Foreign crypto firms have already been targeted as part of the government's plan, notably U.S. exchange Kraken and hardware wallet provider Nunchuk, the former over a single tweet from CEO Jesse Powell.
100% yes it has/will happen and 100% yes, we will be forced to comply. If you're worried about it, don't keep your funds with any
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