Exactly one year ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cautioned against the idea put forth by opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, suggesting Canadians invest in Bitcoin (BTC) as a hedge against inflation, dubbing it “not responsible leadership.” However, in the wake of significant market events that unfolded in the months following Trudeau’s warning and marked the beginning of a severe crypto winter, it appears that Poilievre’s advice was surprisingly prescient.
Over the past 12 months, Bitcoin has witnessed a remarkable surge of approximately 15%, while the inflation rate reached 6.5%, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Statistics Canada reported a slightly higher inflation rate of 6.8% annually.
Trudeau had famously tweeted last September in response to Poilievre’s comments, stating, “Telling people they can opt out of inflation by investing in cryptocurrencies is not responsible leadership.” However, the subsequent year’s data suggests a different outcome.
In addition to outperforming inflation, Bitcoin also outpaced the S&P 500, a comprehensive index comprising the largest publicly listed companies in the United States.
Nonetheless, it’s worth mentioning that numerous tokens experienced substantial declines over the same period. Metaverse tokens such as Decentraland’s MANA and Axie Infinity’s AXS plummeted by 65% and 70%, respectively. Meanwhile, tokens like Binance’s BNB faced a 30% decrease in value, and Ethereum (ETH) saw an 8% decline.
Bi-Partisan Digital Asset Holders
In March 2022, during a campaign stop, Pierre Poilievre made headlines when he purchased a Shawarma using Bitcoin. A disclosure from May that same year revealed that he held shares of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC). Poilievre is among a handful of bi-partisan Canadian Members of Parliament and civil servants who disclosed some form of digital asset holdings, according to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
Surprisingly, digital asset ownership appears to be evenly distributed between the Liberal and Conservative Parties, defying Trudeau’s earlier warnings. For instance:
- Liberal MP Chandrakanth “Chandra” Arya from Ontario declared ownership of Bitcoin, Ether, and units from 3iQ’s Bitcoin fund and Ether fund in 2021.
- Joël Lightbound, representing Quebec’s Louis-Hébert for the Liberal Party, owns shares of Purpose’s Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, Bitcoin, and Solana tokens. He also reported a “loan receivable from an individual” under the cryptocurrency section of his disclosure.
- Vancouver MP Taleeb Farouk Noormohamed disclosed holdings in Bitcoin, Ether, and Stacks (STX), the native token of the Stacks Network, a Bitcoin layer-2 solution designed to enhance the Bitcoin network’s functionality for Ordinals (similar to NFTs).
Notably, during the 2021 election, Noor Mohamed faced criticism for his real estate activities, including flipping 42 homes in the Metro Vancouver area over 17 years, a practice Trudeau’s campaign platform described as “predatory.”