WikiLeaks had to find workarounds for its online store. On April 20, 2018, the depositary of informational documents revealed in a tweet that Coinbase closed the WikiLeaks online store account.
Even with Coinbase as a payment processor, the WikiLeaks online store is still able to use CoinPayments.net for cryptocurrency payments, accepting both bitcoin and a variety of altcoins. The organization still accepts donations in bitcoin, litecoin, ether, monero and zcash.
Coinbase Bails on WikiLeaks
The organization claims that Coinbase sent them a memo “without notice or explanation” stating that it would no longer have access to the platform.
“After careful review,” the message reads, “we believe your account has been involved in prohibited use in violation of our Terms of Service and we regret to inform you that we can no longer provide you with access to our service. we respectfully request that you follow the on-screen instructions presented when logging into your Coinbase account to send any remaining off-site balance to an external address. “
In the message, Coinbase emphasizes that “it is a FinCEN (FinCen.gov) regulated Money Services Business”, making it “legally obliged to implement regulatory compliance mechanisms”. However, the exchange does not offer further details on what regulations or Terms of Service WikiLeaks have violated to call for a ban.
Responding to developments, WikiLeaks tweeted which will require an international boycott of Coinbase next week, calling the exchange “like an unsuitable member of the crypto community”.
Ironically, WikiLeaks began funding its organization with cryptocurrencies after banks and payment services stopped processing donations in November 2010. When Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, PayPal and Western Union closed their support , the renegade group turned to virtual currencies that better conformed to its cypherpunk and anarchist roots.
As of December 2016, WikiLeaks had raised 4,000 bitcoins worth around $ 3,000,000 at the time. The flood of funds was enough to keep WikiLeaks afloat during the lockdown, and how Andreas Antonopoulos he points out, “Coinbase has repeated history” by carrying out the same ban that aroused “the interest of many people for bitcoin”.
We have come full circle. Many people’s interest in bitcoin began when Wikileaks was under extra judicial embargo from VISA, MC, PayPal and banks. Now Coinbase has repeated history. Oops.
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