Ethan Lou: El Salvador’s official adoption of bitcoin as legal tender highlights crypto’s entrance into partisan political arena
El Salvador’s official adoption of bitcoin as legal tender on Tuesday was historic. The merits of it may be debated, but that move, fraught with opposition and spearheaded by a divisive president, is the biggest-yet representation of an important phenomenon: cryptocurrency’s entrance into the partisan political arena.
It has been building for a while, even here in Canada. In 2018, I posed a cryptocurrency question to Rachel Notley, then Alberta’s New Democrat premier. There was a noticeable pause before Notley said, “I think we’ll have to get someone to follow up with you on that.”Just a year later in 2019, however, Jason Kenney, then the provincial Conservative leader, gave a surprisingly on-point take on the subject, noting how Alberta’s energy resources could complement bitcoin mining.
That year had made a difference in the way that politicians viewed crypto and their comfort level in discussing it. The context of Kenney’s remarks was important, too: he made them in the lead up to the 2019 Alberta election.
We are now two years further down the road, in the middle of a bigger, federal election. While I have not seen crypto brought up so far, this is now a vastly bigger and more assertive industry. Future elections will not be as crypto-free as this one.
Setting the stage nicely is the U.S. Senate crypto fracas last month that stalled the White House’s US$3.5 trillion infrastructure bill. The Washington Post said the episode “reflects the extent to which cryptocurrencies — which have emerged as a trillion-dollar industry from obscurity less than a decade ago — have begun to upend politics.”
Cryptocurrencies — which have emerged as a trillion-dollar industry from obscurity less than a decade ago — have begun to upend politics
The crypto-focused HODLpac — a so-called political action committee (PAC), which raises money for ballot-box matters — has seen its Twitter following double and many new inquiries about donations. There is even talk of PACs that are decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), leaderless blockchain-based entities that distribute funds based on predefined rules.
Here in Canada, the scene is tamer, like with all things. In the lobbyist registry, all the various crypto names are still represented largely by one firm. But accounting for its smaller population, this country is where crypto has a proportionally bigger presence.
A Torontonian and a Vancouverite, respectively, founded arguably the two biggest cornerstones of the current cryptocurrency space: the computing platform Ethereum and the coin-trading hub Binance, both worth billions. Canada was also home to the world’s first bitcoin ATM and has the highest number of such installations after the United States. A Bank of Canada survey shows even among the unlikely 45-to-54 age group, Bitcoin ownership almost quadrupled in 2017, and it has no doubt soared since then.
Canada is not short on people who may have strong feelings about how cryptocurrency has increasingly butted against regulatory issues. In Alberta, for example, a bitcoin miner has been ordered shut by the province’s utility commission after local residents complained about the noise level. In Ontario, a hawkish securities regulator has caused the popular Binance to stop serving the province.
Already, an Edmonton municipal candidate is running to make hers a “cryptocurrency-friendly city.” In Texas in August, 200 bitcoiners and oil executives mingled and drank beer. They have common cause in how gaseous by-products of oil drilling can be used to mine Bitcoin. A big topic of discussion: political activism.
Some may already see a bit of a partisan divide forming around the issue. Within bitcoin, after all, beats a mistrust of traditional institutions that has become increasingly associated with the right. Bitcoin’s prominent supporters in the United States include Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon, who helped with the rise of President Donald Trump. El Salvador’s man behind its Bitcoin adoption, President Nayib Bukele, leans right.
Cryptocurrency’s haters include people on the other side of the spectrum, such as U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Here in Canada, they include the big-L Liberal Mark Carney — a former central banker whose potential entrance into politics has been so widely discussed that such talk has become a running joke among observers.
Yet cryptocurrency itself is also a diverse field. One survey, for example, shows that the biggest group among the crypto community leans small-L “liberal.” It is unclear how exactly that survey defines that term, which is another point to consider — that ideology is fluid and relative, and concepts of left and right have become increasingly arbitrary. Andrew Yang, contender for the 2020 U.S. Democratic presidential nomination, is a well-known crypto fan. In Canada, it is, in fact, the federal NDP that tabled resolution at its convention to study cryptocurrency as early as 2016.
Despite the tints of partisanship in the subject, cryptocurrency users are not quite yet a discrete bloc. It’s just that, evidently, this is an issue that is entering the political arena one way or the other. There will come a day when, unlike in this election, cryptocurrency forms a part of every party’s platform.
Ethan Lou is a journalist and author of Once a Bitcoin Miner: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West, to be released this fall.
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Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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