Correction - we told you in the video that Tiff Macklem, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, made a direct statement about wanting legislation to regulate stablecoins and crypto if they become widely used. Well—correction—it wasn’t Tiff who said it. It was Carolyn Rogers, the Senior Deputy Governor. She made the comment during the Bank’s press conference, sitting right next to Macklem. She said: “If stablecoins or crypto assets were to become widely used as a means of payment, that could pose financial stability risks. In that case, we would need regulatory oversight, and we would need legislation to provide it.” So yes, I said Tiff said it. Technically, he didn’t. But let’s be clear: this wasn’t some rogue offhand remark. This was the Bank of Canada’s official line—delivered by the second-highest-ranking official in the building, standing beside the man who runs the place. Macklem didn’t correct her. He didn’t walk it back. In fact, he nodded right along. So this is his position too, even if it came out of Rogers' mouth. We corrected the speaker. But the message? The warning to crypto? That part stands. The central bank wants control. And they just told you what’s coming.
[🔊 With Audio] This week, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem did something subtle but significant. In his usual calm and controlled tone, amid discussions of trade wars and mortgage renewals, he quietly marked a shift in the central bank’s stance toward cryptocurrency.
During the press conference following the Bank’s Financial Stability Report, Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers stated:
“If cryptocurrencies become a form of payment, then consumers will need to rely on their value remaining stable… If that happens… we would need to introduce new legislation in Canada to ensure that we have the proper protections in place to use cryptocurrencies or stablecoins as a form of payment.”
This may seem innocuous—a routine comment about evolving financial tools. But it wasn’t. This was a strategic signal. For the first time, the head of Canada’s central bank publicly acknowledged that crypto, and specifically stablecoins, could soon compete directly with fiat currency as a means of payment. And more importantly, he made it clear that the Bank wants the legal power to step in when that happens.
Until now, crypto in Canada has existed mostly in a regulatory grey zone. Securities regulators have taken the lead, focused on consumer protection and fraud. But the monetary authorities—those who actually control the supply, flow, and value of Canadian money—have been largely silent. That silence ended this week.
Let’s be clear about what this means.
It means the Bank of Canada is now preparing for a future where Canadians might not just speculate with crypto—they might spend it, save in it, and transact outside the traditional banking system. And if that happens, Macklem wants Parliament to hand him the tools to regulate it, or more bluntly—reassert control over it.
From the Bank’s perspective, this is about maintaining financial stability. But from the public’s perspective, it’s about freedom and competition. The idea behind stablecoins is simple: money that isn’t subject to political whims, inflationary mismanagement, or centralized surveillance. In other words, an exit ramp.
And that’s the real issue. Because stablecoins—and by extension, decentralized crypto—challenge the very foundation of modern central banking: the monopoly on money.
The Bank of Canada has spent the last decade experimenting with ultra-low rates, quantitative easing, and liquidity injections. It has financed record government spending, overseen the largest expansion in mortgage debt in Canadian history, and helped inflate housing prices into globally unaffordable territory. Through it all, Canadians have had no alternative. If you earn, spend, or save in Canada, you’ve been operating inside one monetary regime—like it or not.
But crypto changes that. Slowly, and then all at once.
Tiff Macklem knows it. And with this statement, he’s told us: if it grows, we’re coming for it.
What’s missing from the conversation is humility. The central bank doesn’t question why people are turning to stablecoins. It doesn’t ask what led to the erosion in public trust that makes decentralized money attractive in the first place. It only asks how to contain it.
That’s a mistake.
If Canadians are exploring alternatives to the loonie, it’s not because they’re reckless—it’s because they’re rational. They’ve watched inflation erode their savings. They’ve seen interest rates manipulated for political convenience. They’ve lived through asset bubbles, housing crises, and fiscal promises backed by debt—not productivity.
So when the central bank warns of "financial stability risks" tied to crypto, let’s remember: the real risk isn’t that Canadians might one day spend a dollar that didn’t come from the Bank of Canada. The real risk is a monetary regime that fears competition—because it knows it might lose.
This wasn’t just a passing comment. It was the starting gun in a new debate: Who controls the future of money in Canada—the state, or the citizen?
The fight over that answer has just begun.
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