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For those not aware what's happening in Canada, let's quickly summarize and highlight the key points:
If any of the above headlines came as a shock to you and you thought their speeches about "standing for freedom and with the protesters" when it was happening in X or Y country was sincere or that their "terror laws" would only be used against some Muslims and never yourself, then you haven't been paying attention the past 20 years. Just to be clear, I'm by no means supporting nor opposing the protests in Canada, the reason for this post is because I think they should first off have the right to do so and secondly highlight the extreme measures a so called "free and progressive" country and Prime Minister is taking now that they are "getting a taste of their own medicine".
So, how does all this fit into the title and why is it so crucial for businesses to be accepting Bitcoin? Simple really. Why do the protesting truckers need money? It's not a scam right, I think we can all agree on that, so some people putting up a show trying to get rich is not the intention here. Therefore it's not really about money on it's own, they simply need money as a tool to convert for goods and services, thus enable them to stay out there and continue what they are doing, which is exactly what Ottawa does not want: "donations are expected to be dished out to truckers who participated in the rally, paying for their fuel, food, and hotel". So what do the authorities do? They cut them off from their own funds and any funding coming in, even if it means using emergency laws that were created to "fight terror". Thus blocking them as much as possible from the cash flow with the intention to flush most of the protesters out and in some cases already block individuals and organizations from their own bank accounts, even if they were not actively taking part but merely donating to the protesters.
But what if....what if all of them, the protesters, their families, the sympathizers, all had access to a possession they could both directly convert to goods and services send to one another without a bank account? Ahhhh now we're talking, and the word we're talking about is either cash or crypto. But truckers hundreds of kilometers away from home out on some bridge do not have a mailing address where people from all across the country can send them bills and coins, and whatever is left in their wallet will slowly but surely run out over time. Crypto is the only possible answer here, but as some of them are already blocked from their banks and undoubtedly more will follow, what good is Bitcoin in their wallet with private keys if they can't convert it to Canadian Dollars? That's where you as a business owner comes in and where "small businesses" can be big: Just take Bitcoin. That is it, that is all. Do you own a small gas station? A small diner? A small convenience store? A small hotel? You can be decisive. It doesn't matter how "small" you are, what matters is that you can contribute to both Bitcoin and more importantly allow Bitcoin to be used for what is was intended to. I'm sometimes disappointed the Bitcoin price is all some talk about. Sure, we all need money and know all the great things we can do with it or the horrors if we don't have any but this is bigger than just money and Bitcoin's price, this is about the free flow of value, or as a wise man once put it very elegantly "A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution".
