Canada Moves to Ban Crypto Donations in Politics Amid Transparency Concerns

Canada’s Liberal government has revived a plan to remove cryptocurrency from federal political fundraising, introducing Bill C-25 on March 26 to ban digital assets, prepaid cards and money orders as political donations.

The proposal would reverse a framework in place since 2019, when Canada began allowing some crypto contributions as non-monetary donations. 

That system was already narrow. Only assets on public blockchains were permitted, which meant privacy-focused coins such as Monero and Zcash were excluded from the start. 

Donors giving more than CA$200 still had to be identified, yet crypto never became a meaningful funding source in federal politics. No major party publicly reported a single crypto donation during either the 2021 or 2025 election.

The government’s case for a ban rests on traceability and election security rather than evidence of heavy use. 

Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault had first argued for tighter controls, but by 2024 shifted to supporting a full prohibition. His position was that cryptocurrency’s pseudo-anonymous design made it too difficult to confirm who was really behind a contribution, leaving a potential opening for foreign interference.

Related: Ripple Tests Stablecoin Trade Finance in Monetary Authority of Singapore Sandbox

Scope of the New Restrictions

Registered parties, local riding associations, candidates, leadership contestants, nomination contestants and third parties involved in election advertising would all be barred from accepting cryptocurrency. 

If a prohibited contribution is received, the recipient would have 30 days to return it, destroy it, or convert it and send the proceeds to the Receiver General. Penalties are steep: up to twice the value of the illegal donation, with fines reaching CA$25,000 for individuals and CA$100,000 for corporations.

The bill also includes provisions dealing with foreign interference, bribery, AI-generated deepfakes, long-ballot protest tactics and stronger investigative powers for the Commissioner of Canada Elections, including authority that extends across borders.

Parliament had already passed the same crypto-donation ban through Bill C-65, but that legislation died when Parliament was prorogued in January 2025 after Justin Trudeau announced his resignation. 

Read more: Mastercard Bets Big on Stablecoins to Bridge Crypto and Traditional Payments

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