Wikileaks Calls for Boycott After Coinbase Has Reportedly Blocked Its Account
Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has just reportedly closed an account used by Wikileaks in its online store. With the Wikileaks Shop unable to accept payments by bitcoin or convert bitcoin donations through their Coinbase account, the whistleblower site is now calling for a blockade next week.
The San Francisco-based company has reportedly shut down the Wikileaks Shop account due to violations of its Terms of Service, according to The Verge. That means that people who want to support Wikileaks by buying their items sold online, like shirts posters, coffee mugs, phone cases and other Wikileaks branded products, can no longer pay by bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies via their Coinbase account.
Wikileaks posted on social media about the closure, saying that Coinbase blocked their account "without notice or explanation," as the site posted on Twitter last Saturday, April 21. There was a note presumably from Coinbase on the image posted with the tweet, though, explaining that the company believes that the account has been used in ways prohibited by the Terms of Service of the platform.
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The note also explained that Coinbase is a regulated Monetary Services Business, one covered by FinCen regulations and are thus legally obligated to implement its regulations.
Looking at the Terms of Service that Coinbase enforces for user accounts on its platform, the company has given itself the right to close accounts at its discretion, even if the note shown by Wikileaks' tweet says that the account was closed due to irregular activity that may be in violation of FinCen policies.
FinCen, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the US Treasury, is an agency that monitors and implements regulations to combat money laundering.
For now, Wikileaks is directing its supporters who want to donate bitcoin to the Wikileaks.org website instead. The whistleblower website founded by Julian Assange is also now calling for a worldwide boycott of Coinbase on social media.
"WikiLeaks will call for a global blockade of Coinbase next week as an unfit member of the crypto community," a recent Twitter post from Wikileaks called on its supporters on Friday, April 20.
"Coinbase, a large Californian Bitcoin processor, responding to a concealed influence, has blocked the entirely harmless @WikiLeaksShop in a decision approved by management," the announcement added.
For its part, Coinbase has not issued a statement on this new development other than to say that the exchange generally avoids having to "comment on individual accounts," as one company representative said.
The move from Coinbase comes weeks just after the Ecuador embassy in London cut off Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's internet access, at least the line supplied to the building where Assange is currently staying in. The ban on Internet and social media access looks to have been a reaction to a re-tweet sent by Assange that may have an effect on Ecuador's relations with other countries.
