Canada’s new prime minister once said Bitcoin had ‘serious deficiencies’

The Liberal Party of Canada has announced Canada’s new prime minister is Mark Carney, a former central banker and Bitcoin critic with plans to fight back against the US’ recently introduced tariffs.

Carney won on March 9 in a landslide vote to choose the replacement for Justin Trudeau, who held the position for over seven years.

Carney served as governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 and 2013 before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to serve as governor of the Bank of England for the next seven years. He told local media on March 1 that had he started the process of renouncing his UK and Irish citizenships.

He has opposed Bitcoin (BTC) since at least March 2, 2018, when he said Bitcoin’s fixed-supply cap results in “serious deficiencies.”

“If ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,’ recreating a virtual global gold standard would be a criminal act of monetary amnesia.”

“The fixed supply of Bitcoin has fed a global speculative mania that has encouraged a proliferation of new cryptocurrencies,” Carney said during his speech on the future of money while serving as governor at England’s top bank.

Carney also said Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies had proven to be “poor short-term stores of value.”

“If you had taken out a 1,000 pound student loan in Bitcoin in last December to pay your sterling living costs for next year, you’d be short about 500 pounds right now. If you’d done the same last September, you’d be ahead by 2,000 pounds. That’s quite a lottery.”

In the same paper, Carney championed central bank digital currencies, stating that they could expand banking access to more individuals and businesses while suggesting it could help central banks “fight terrorism and economic crime.”

However, Carney was also a board member at payments processor firm Stripe from February 2021 to January 2025. During that time, Stripe implemented a range of crypto payment solutions between 2022 and 2024.

Carney’s negative views on Bitcoin and crypto appear to be even stronger than Trudeau’s, who once described opposition leader Pierre Pollievere’s pro-crypto platform as “reckless.”

”Telling people they can opt out of inflation by investing in cryptocurrencies is not responsible leadership,” Trudeau said in September 2022.

Carney plans to fight back at Trump over tariffs

In his March 9 victory speech, Carney called out US President Donald Trump for “attacking Canadian families” and attempting to weaken Canada’s economy through tariffs.

“Donald Trump has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, sell and how we make a living,” Carney said.

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The Canadian government has “rightly retaliated” with tariffs, which Carney said will remain in place until “the Americans show us respect.”

He added that Canada “will never be part of America in any way, shape, or form” — another comment in response to Trump’s aspiration to make Canada the 51st US state.

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