Canada’s move to freeze Bitcoin (BTC) wallets and bank accounts related to COVID-19 vaccine protests is driving cryptocurrency adoption, with some crypto naysayers reconsidering their stance on Bitcoin.
David Heinemeier Hansson, the Ruby on Rails web development framework creator, took to Twitter on Monday to tell his followers that he was no longer a Bitcoin skeptic.
“I still can’t believe that this is the protest that would prove every Bitcoin crank a prophet. And for me to have to slice a piece of humble pie, and admit that I was wrong on crypto’s fundamental necessity in Western democracies,” Hansson wrote.
“I still can’t believe that this is the protest that would prove every Bitcoin crank a prophet. And for me to have to slice a piece of humble pie, and admit that I was wrong on crypto’s fundamental necessity in Western democracies.” https://t.co/9smNKyabm0
— DHH (@dhh) February 21, 2022
In a blog post titled “I was wrong, we need crypto,” the Danish programmer mentioned that he’s been skeptical about Bitcoin and the crypto industry in general since the early 2010s. He noted that some of his biggest arguments against Bitcoin were the cryptocurrency’s energy consumption, transaction fees, the lack of real decentralization, supposed fraud involving Tether (USDT) stablecoin and many others.
But all these arguments do not provide enough reasons to disregard cryptocurrencies as a tool to support freedom and democracy in situations where countries like Canada impose martial law in response to peaceful protest movement, Hansson argued, stating:
“It’s clear to me now that I was too hasty to completely dismiss crypto on the basis of all the things wrong with it at the moment. Instead of appreciating the fundamental freedom to transact that it’s currently our best shot at protecting.”
Hansson’s transformation from a Bitcoin skeptic to a Bitcoin supporter in response to Canada’s invoked Emergencies Act is another example of the growing crypto adoption fueled by somewhat excessive involvement of the state.
“Tons of falsehoods in this article about bitcoin. But still shows the situation in Canada is going to accelerate bitcoin adoption,” crypto podcaster Neil Jacobs noted.
Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano also pointed out previously that authoritarian moves by countries like Canada are “Bitcoin’s marketing team.”
Authoritarian governments are Bitcoin’s marketing team.
— Pomp (@APompliano) February 15, 2022
Related: Crypto community condemns Canada for freezing dissidents’ Bitcoin wallets
According to some reports, Justin Trudeau’s financial crackdown on vaccine protesters could have triggered bank runs in Canada amid major banks and ATMs going offline.
What the hell is happening to Canada’s banks right now? pic.twitter.com/NRjPWlG0GE
— James Melville (@JamesMelville) February 16, 2022