The evolution of the Canadian political landscape could upset the crypto ecosystem. Mark Carney, ex-Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has just been appointed to succeed Justin Trudeau. His accession to power does not go unnoticed, especially in the cryptos sector. Known for its harsh criticisms of Bitcoin, Carney has in the past qualified the active monetary model, which has fueled a “world speculative mania”. His vision, anchored in a centralized approach to finance, suggests a restrictive policy with regard to cryptos. While Canada is still looking for its guideline in regulating these assets, Carney's appointment could constitute a radical turn. Its influence on the future of bitcoin and cryptos in Canada deserves to be scrutinized closely.
A central banker with resolved positions against Bitcoin
Mark Carney never deprived herself to express his reservations about Bitcoin. During a speech in March 2018, when he was governor of the Bank of England, he denounced the fixed bitcoin supply limit. He then argued that she would generate “serious disabilities”. According to him, a currency must be able to adapt to economic needs, and not be frozen by a computer code. He had gone further and had assertive that recreating a system based on a limited monetary standard, as proposed by Bitcoin, would amount to committing a “criminal act of monetary amnesia”.
His criticism goes beyond monetary aspects. He had also pointed out the extreme volatility of Bitcoin, and had described it as a “poor reserve of short -term value”. In addition, he had illustrated his point by this analogy: a student having contracted a loan of 1,000 pounds sterling in Bitcoin in December of a year could have lost 500 pounds a few months later, or on the contrary win 2,000 depending on the period. For Carney, this unpredictability makes bitcoin unsuitable as a reliable means of exchange.
Towards a pro-CBDC and anti-Bitcoin monetary policy?
If Mark Carney opposes decentralized cryptos, he does not completely reject digital innovation in the financial sector. During the same intervention in 2018, he was pronounced in favor of digital currencies of central banks (CBDC). According to him, these official digital currencies could “expand access to banking services” and offer a more effective tool to “combat the financing of terrorism and economic crime”. A declaration which suggests an interventionist approach, and which promotes systems under state control rather than independent cryptos such as bitcoin.
However, his recent journey brings an interesting nuance to his anti-Crypto posture. From 2021 to 2025, Carney sat on the Board of Directors of Stripe, a payments giant that joined crypto payment solutions between 2022 and 2024. This experience within a fintech company explored the cryptos could temper its approach. It remains to be seen whether his government will adopt a strict supervision strategy or a pure and simple ban on cryptos as some countries have done.
The arrival of Mark Carney in power therefore poses a key question for the cryptos industry in Canada: will the country adopt more strict, even hostile regulation, to these assets? While Justin Trudeau had already marked a certain distrust of Bitcoin, his successor could push this caution to a higher level. Thanks to solutions such as CBDC, Carney seems to want to shape a future more centralized monetary. It remains to be seen how the Canadian crypto community and investors will react to this political orientation which promises to be decisive for the future of these assets in the country.
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