What Canada’s new Liberal PM Mark Carney means for crypto

Mark Carney, a Canadian economist and now Prime Minister-designate, is already under the microscope for his previous remarks regarding cryptocurrency. 

Carney, who replaced former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took a measured and critical approach to cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin (BTC), in a 2018 speech he made at the Bank of England. He also shared concerns over private stablecoins and supported the idea of a central bank currency (CBDC) — a concept many crypto purists regard as antithetical to cryptocurrencies.

At the same time, Carney has said in his platform for the upcoming 2025 federal elections that he wants to make Canada a leader in emerging technologies, including “AI, tech, and digital industries.”

Carney’s previous statements, along with the US trade war on its former trading partners, have raised questions over the Prime Minister-designate’s economic platform and what part, if any, crypto will play.

While serving as governor of the Bank of England, Carney criticized the seminal cryptocurrency Bitcoin as being insufficient in fulfilling all three of the functions of a currency: a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account. 

Functions of money. Source: Bank of England

Addressing the question “How well do cryptocurrencies fulfill the roles of money?” he said, “The long, charitable answer is that cryptocurrencies act as money, at best, only for some people and to a limited extent, and even then only in parallel with the traditional currencies of the users.”

He also shared his concern over private stablecoins in the 2021 Andrew Crockett Memorial lecture. Carney stated that private stablecoins need a regulatory model with “equivalent protections to those for commercial bank money,” like liquidity requirements, central bank eligibility and means to compensate depositors. 

He also stated that a system that contains multiple competing stablecoins can “fragment the liquidity of the monetary system and to detract from the role of money as a coordination device.”

Carney contended that a central bank digital currency (CBDC), particularly a retail CBDC with API access to regulated, private firms — could prevent such fragmentation from happening, in addition to more common pro-CBDC arguments like expedited settlement times. 

In a Bloomberg interview in 2018, Carney said that he wanted to bring the cryptocurrency space up to standard with the rest of the financial industry. He said at the time that there was “lots of temptation” for market manipulation, fraud and other misconduct on crypto exchanges. 

“The best of the cryptocurrencies, I would suggest, will gravitate to the best of the exchanges if they’re regulated,” he said.

Related: National Bank of Canada hints at bearish take on Bitcoin

Carney further claimed that it’s a good thing if some cryptocurrencies “fall by the wayside” with regulation. “It is a privilege to be part of the financial system, to be connected to the financial system. And responsibilities come with those privileges,” he said.

Despite his more skeptical comments toward cryptocurrencies, Carney said in his 2018 speech that policymakers should be careful not to stifle innovation. 

He said that the “underlying technologies are exciting” and that lawmakers shouldn’t restrain solutions that can “improve financial stability; support more innovative, efficient and reliable payment services as well as have wider applications.”

Carney is also supportive of implementing other emerging technologies in government administration and making Canada more competitive in tech. His platform aims to reduce inefficiencies with AI and machine learning and “build a highly competitive, technology-enabled public service.”

The Canadian federal elections are slated to happen no later than Oct. 20, 2025, and could be called even earlier.

Carney will face Conservative frontrunner Pierre Poilievre, who himself has made a number of pro-crypto statements. In 2022, he posted on X that he wanted to make Canada a blockchain hub and “expand choice, lower costs of financial products, [and] create thousands of jobs.”

During the Conservative Party’s leadership election, he said that cryptocurrencies would let Canadians “take control” of their money.

Related: Why Pierre Poilievre may not be Canada’s crypto savior

Still, observers of the Canadian crypto industry and Canadian politics have told Cointelegraph that crypto is unlikely to be a major factor in the upcoming elections, unlike its neighbor to the south.

Morva Rohani, executive director of the Canadian Web3 Council nonprofit trade association, told Cointelegraph, “The reality is that most Canadians are either indifferent or skeptical about crypto, and larger issues like the affordability crisis, housing, inflation and immigration dominate the political conversation.”

Added to those economic concerns is the trade war with the US, which started when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China — three of his country’s major trading partners. 

Trudeau’s response to Trump’s tariff threats has seen the Liberals close their gap in the polls, which earlier this year showed the Conservatives as decisively ahead. Carney’s response to the US’ hostile economic policies may be more of a key factor to victory than his stance on cryptocurrencies. 

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