Trudeau Pooh-poohs Rival’s Crypto Enthusiasm

Canada’s Prime Minister of seven years, Justin Trudeau, took pot shots Monday at newly elected conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre over his crypto views

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Opposition leader Poilievre’s leadership on crypto is irresponsible Trudeau said
  • Individuals who’ve followed the advice of Poilivere would have seen their life savings destroyed, the Prime Minister said

Canada’s Prime Minister has fired a shot across the bow of freshly elected opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, labeling his views on cryptocurrencies as irresponsible, and calling his leadership into question.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a gathered crowd at the Liberal caucus retreat on Monday, individuals could not hope to dodge macro headwinds by diverting their savings towards crypto.

“Telling people they can opt out of inflation by investing their savings in volatile cryptocurrencies is not responsible leadership,” the Prime Minister said. “By the way, anyone who followed that advice would have seen their life savings destroyed.”

Pierre Poilievre; Source: Shutterstock

Inflation, including other macroeconomic factors such as low wage growth and tailwind pandemic supply shortages, have all but forced individuals to seek alternative investments in a desperate attempt to stay ahead of multiple crises, including Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Trudeau’s comments come as little surprise, given the recent protests earlier in the year involving Canadian truckers who sought to circumvent capital controls placed on them by their government for refusing to adhere to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Bitcoin and other cryptos proved to be a useful tool to sidestep controversial financial sanctions, imposed by the Trudeau administration, which saw hundreds of thousands of dollars in BTC reach protestors’ pockets.

Canada’s Prime Minister later reiterated his stance toward crypto, while also taking a shot at Poilievre’s COVID-19 politics.

Loading Tweet..

Poilievre, who won a major landslide victory as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on Saturday, has continued to publicly advocate for crypto and bitcoin.

Viewed as a means to “decentralize” the economy, reduce government involvement and pare back central bankers, Poilievre said in March if elected to lead the country, he would normalize crypto.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

We’re bullish on the PUMP token. We believe Pump.fun's brand strength, existing integrations, product roadmap, and strategic levers justify PUMP's TGE valuation, and expect the token to re-rate meaningfully higher in the months ahead.

article-image

Big blockers wasted a bitcoin fortune trying to prove a point

article-image

Coinbase’s newest acquisition includes the CEO and Head of Research from Opyn

article-image

Crypto’s highest purpose might be to make markets better by making them bigger

article-image

The non-profit’s “Project Open” seeks to let stocks trade directly on Solana

article-image

The acquisition is Pump.fun’s first, and comes just days before its planned ICO

article-image

As Trump’s tariff war reignites, everyone is assuming the dollar will continue its path lower. But the journey might be bumpy