ON JANUARY 15, 2022, the Canadian government closed its borders to unvaccinated American truckers and began requiring domestic truckers to show proof of COVID vaccination when crossing northward, infuriating drivers and snarling North American trade. Within two weeks, thousands of "Freedom Convoy" protesters filled the capital city of Ottawa, demanding the requirement be lifted. Officials responded by branding them "extremists," even "terrorists," and quickly began treating them as such. On February 4, the Canadian government pressured the crowdsourcing service GoFundMe the truckers' seemingly decentralized source of financing-into abruptly stopping further transfers.
Ottawa was just getting started. On February 14, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, which let it freeze any bank account or legal financial instrument that could be traced to the truckers. So convoy supporters turned to bitcoin, the decentralized, peer-to-peer, blockchain-enabled digital currency whose whole raison d'etre-maintaining a separation between currency and government-seemed designed for moments like this.
Or not. Most bitcoin transactions-75 percent, according to an October 2021 working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research-are conducted through cryptocurrency exchanges. These, being legally licensed businesses (at least in theory), are vulnerable to the same interference as old-school financial institutions. The Canadian government demanded that the exchanges block all crypto wallets that could be linked to the protesters, and it initially seized the contents of some outright. "We will be forced to comply," tweeted Jesse Powell, then-CEO of major crypto exchange Kraken. "If you're worried about it, don't keep your funds with any centralized/ regulated custodian. We cannot protect you. Get your coins/ cash out and only trade p2p."
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THE REAL THREAT IS AN ISOLATED CHINA
DECOUPLING FROM TRADE WILL MAKE THE U.S. POORER AND CHINA MORE TOTALITARIAN.
Against Our Own Best Souls'
SISTER HELEN PREJEAN ON HERLIFE ASA WITNESS ON DEATH ROW
'THE POLITICS HAVE COME TO US'
HOW A CHRISTIAN CHARITY IN EL PASO ENDED UP AT WAR WITH THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT FOR HELPING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
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DURING PRESIDENT DONALD Trumpâs first term in office, the national debt increased by $8 trillionâdue, in large part, to huge spending hikes that Congress passed and Trump signed.
THE IMPROBABLE RISE OF MAGA-MUSK
IS ELON MUSK A REACTIONARY WITHA DEFECTIVE BULLSHIT METER OR THE BEST PART OF THE SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?
A Free-Range Family
RIGHT NOW, CHILDHOOD is intensely meh. Maybe you read the recent report in The Journal of Pediatrics that said that as kids' independence and free play have gone down, their anxiety and depression have been going up.
Educulture Wars
THE CULTURE WAR is costing school districts billions, according to a report released in October 2024 by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. The report surveyed superintendents at 467 school districts nationwide about extra expenditures they undertook because of increased conflict over culture war issues such as critical race theory, book chal- lenges, gender-related debates, and other politicized topics. The report estimates that such fights cost school districts around $3.2 billion during the 2023-2024 school year.
Q&A Penny Lane
PENNY LANE'S NEW Netflix documentary, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, delves into her life-changing decision to donate a kidney to a stranger. Known for her thoughtful and provocative storytelling, Lane has explored human connection and empathy in films such as Hail Satan? and The Pain of Others. Last October she spoke with Reason's Nick Gillespie and shared her emotional, physical, and philosophical experience with anonymous kidney donation and the challenges that came with it.