Bill C-25 has now cleared second reading

Bill C-25, the Strong and Free Elections Act, has passed second reading in the House of Commons and has been referred to committee. Parliament’s LEGISinfo page lists the bill as being at committee stage, with second reading and referral completed on April 24, 2026.

That matters because the crypto donation restriction is no longer just a proposal sitting at first reading. It has now crossed an important procedural step and is moving deeper into the legislative process.

The bill explicitly bans crypto-asset contributions

The bill text is unusually direct on this point. It adds provisions that prohibit accepting contributions made “in the form of a cryptoasset,” which the bill defines as digital assets secured by cryptographic measures. The same sections also prohibit contributions made by money order or prepaid payment products.

The bill applies this rule not only to third parties, but also to registered parties, associations, nomination contestants, candidates and leadership contestants, with return, destruction, or conversion requirements if prohibited contributions are received.

Conservatives raised concerns, but did not try to block it

CoinDesk reported that Conservative lawmakers raised questions about the measure but did not directly challenge the proposed ban as the bill moved through second reading. That gave the government enough room to advance the legislation without a major partisan fight over the crypto provision itself.

So while the bill may still face scrutiny in committee, the key political point for now is that the ban advanced with cross-party space to move forward rather than becoming a major flashpoint.

The government is framing crypto as hard-to-trace political money

Earlier CoinDesk reporting on the same bill said Ottawa was treating crypto donations as part of a wider category of funding methods seen as harder to trace, alongside money orders and prepaid payment products. That framing helps explain why the ban was included in a broader election-integrity bill rather than handled as a standalone crypto issue.

In other words, the policy argument is less about crypto innovation and more about political transparency and donation traceability.

Why this matters

This matters because it shows a major democratic country is moving toward treating crypto donations to federal political campaigns as too opaque to permit. That is a notable signal for other jurisdictions weighing how digital assets fit into campaign finance rules.

It also shows that even where broader crypto policy remains open or unsettled, governments may draw a harder line around elections and political funding. That is an inference from the bill’s design and its placement inside a broader elections reform package.

The clean takeaway

Canada’s proposed federal ban on political crypto donations has now cleared second reading and moved to committee. The bill explicitly bans crypto-asset contributions, and while Conservatives raised issues around it, they did not stop it from advancing. For now, the measure has real momentum.