Canada moves to ban crypto donations for election campaigns following UK

Bill C-25 follows years of warnings from Canada's Chief Electoral Officer about the risk that crypto donations could pose to electoral integrity. What to know : Canada’s Bill C-25 would ban cryptocurrency, money order and prepaid card donations across the federal political system, closing a fundraising channel that has seen virtually no use since crypto was first permitted in 2019. The Chief Electoral Officer, who initially favored tighter regulation, shifted in 2024 to recommending an outright prohibition, citing cryptocurrency’s pseudo-anonymity and the fundamental difficulty of verifying contributor identities. The bill, a reintroduction of the failed Bill C-65, sets 30-day deadlines to return or remit illegal crypto contributions and imposes penalties up to twice the contribution’s value plus $100,000 for corporations, and is currently at first reading in the House of Commons.