Canada’s federal government has moved to ban cryptocurrency donations to political campaigns, shutting down a fundraising channel that appears to have had little to no real-world use in the country’s previous elections.
Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, introduced on March 26, would ban political contributions made in BTC and other crypto assets, as well as money orders and prepaid payment products, grouping them together as hard-to-trace forms of financing.
The ban applies broadly across the political system, encompassing registered parties, riding associations, candidates, leaders and nomination contenders, and third parties involved in election advertising.
The move comes as the UK government also recently announced an immediate moratorium on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, citing concerns that digital assets could be used to obscure the origins of foreign money in British politics.
Second attempt
Canada’s Bill C-25 addresses a theoretical vulnerability rather than a documented problem.
Canada has allowed crypto donations since 2019 under an administrative framework that classified them as non-monetary contributions, similar to property. But no major federal party has publicly embraced cryptocurrencies, and no contributions have been disclosed in either the 2021 or 2025 elections.
Under the 2019 framework, contributions were not eligible for tax revenue, a major disincentive in a system where donors routinely claim credits.
Contributors of more than $200 had to be publicly identified by name and address. They only qualified cryptocurrencies with verifiable public blockchains; privacy coins such as Monero or ZCash were excluded. Candidates had to liquidate their fiat money holdings before spending.
However, the chief electoral officer (CEO) became increasingly uncomfortable with the agreement.
In a June 2022 post-election report, the CEO recommended adopting stricter rules for crypto contributions, including removing a provision that deemed contributions of $200 or less from non-professional sellers to have zero value, effectively exempting them from the regulated financing regime.
By November 2024, the CEO’s position had moved from regulating to prohibiting, recommending an outright ban on the grounds that the pseudo-anonymity of cryptocurrencies creates transparency challenges and that identifying contributors is “fundamentally difficult.”
Bill C-25 is the second attempt to enact a ban on cryptocurrency donations. Its predecessor, Bill C-65, contained identical provisions, but died when Parliament was prorogued in January 2025.
The new bill gives recipients 30 days to return, destroy or convert and remit any crypto contributions received in violation of the ban, with proceeds to be sent to the Receiver General. The maximum administrative penalties reach double the value of the offending contribution, plus $100,000 for corporations.
In the United States, the Federal Election Commission provides guidance on how to properly disclose donations of BTC and other cryptocurrencies to campaigns. Crypto donations have been allowed in the US since 2014.
The Canada bill is currently in first reading in the House of Commons.
