Freedom Convoy crowdfunding continuing

Frozen out of GoFundMe, Canadian protest convoy raises millions on Christian site | Washington Post - Paulina Villegas and Reis Thebault:

February 7, 2022 - "After being denied several million dollars raised on GoFundMe, organizers of a trucker-led protest disrupting life in Canada’s capital have found a new platform: a Christian crowdfunding site where they raised more than $3.5 million in two days to demonstrate against the country’s vaccine mandate. The new fundraiser hosted by GiveSendGo, which describes itself as the '#1 free Christian crowdfunding site,' reported Sunday that the 'Freedom Convoy' campaign had raised several million dollars two days after GoFundMe announced that it was freezing more than $8 million in donations to the cause....

"GoFundMe said Friday that it had removed a fundraiser for the convoy that had raised more than $8 million because it violated its terms of service. The company said it had released an initial $1 million in donations to Freedom Convoy organizers last week after they provided a clear distribution plan and confirmed that they would only be used for those participating in a peaceful protest. But after receiving evidence from law enforcement that the 'previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation,' the company said no additional funds would be distributed to its organizers and instead donors would have two weeks to submit a request for a refund, the company said. GoFundMe then would work with convoy organizers to send the remaining money to other charities.

"GoFundMe’s decision aroused conservative ire on both sides of the border, drawing special scrutiny from several Republican attorneys general, who pledged to investigate the platform. On Friday evening ... West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) asked residents who have 'been victimized by a deceptive act or practice' to report it.... By Sunday, at least four other states — Florida, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas — had done just that, promising to investigate GoFundMe for allegedly deceptive practices. The threats of an investigation continued even after the platform announced Saturday that it would refund all contributions automatically amid the donor backlash. The company did not respond to an inquiry Sunday from The Washington Post."
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/07/canada-protesters-fundraising-platform/

illustration courtesy TallyCoin

This is just gonna explode’: How Bitcoin bigwigs’ ‘HonkHonk’ came to fundraise for Canada’s ‘Freedom convoy’ | Toronto Star - Alex McKeen:

February 7, 2022 - "Bitcoin investors who want to 'orange pill' the world and create a financial system outside of government regulation are rallying to join forces with — and raise money for — the 'Freedom convoy' protest in Canada. The group of five men will exclusively control the donations — which have so far reached around $500,000 CAD — and they say they want to show that cryptocurrencies are the libertarian money of the future....

"Greg Foss, Jeff Booth and two other men who go by the pseudonyms BTC Sessions and Nobody Cariboo all invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and create videos, books and online courses promoting cryptocurrency as a key component of a future financial system that is free from government oversight. Now, they’ve teamed up with B.J. Dichter, one of the original organizers of the Freedom Convoy to Ottawa — and pulled in donations from cryptocurrency-rich investors known as 'whales' — to raise money for the protest’s anti vaccine-mandate and anti-restrictions cause.... The bitcoin fundraiser is being hosted on the website TallyCoin and has attracted more than 4,000 donors....

"The convoy, which has been carrying on an occupation-style protest in Ottawa for 11 days, and has inspired other anti-mandate protests across the country, had raised more than $10 million on the fundraising platform GoFundMe. It was started by Alberta woman Tamara Lich, with Dichter having been added later as another organizer. GoFundMe cancelled the fundraiser, however, after Ottawa police contacted the platform.... The cancellation of the fundraiser ... created an immediate backlash from supporters of the convoy, as well as a host of American right-wing politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said it was evidence of bias from GoFundMe. It also appears to have been a launching pad for Bitcoiners promoting their own anti-establishment messages.

"Two days before the GoFundMe was cancelled on Feb 4, an online personality known as “HonkHonk Hodl” had set up an alternative fundraiser — and its pitch for 'censorship resistant' fundraising using Bitcoin started to take off. On Sunday evening, the fund even got a donation of an entire Bitcoin, more than $50,000 CAD from Jesse Powell, who heads Kraken, one of the highest value cryptocurrency exchanges in the world....

"Foss, 58, is from Oakville, Ont., and had a long career in the financial industry before retiring and diving headfirst into Bitcoin enthusiasm. 'I believe it to be the most beautiful financial and technological innovation I’ve ever seen,' he told the Star in an interview Monday. 'And it was made for situations like this weekend, where you have a centralized platform that decides upon on their own volition that the funds raised on that platform are not going to be distributed to the people that the funds were raised for. And it’s very scary.'"
Read more: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/02/07/this-is-just-gonna-explode-how-bitcoin-bigwigs-honkhonk-came-to-fundraise-for-canadas-freedom-convoy.html