Coinbase Suspends WikiLeaks Shop For ‘Terms Of Service’ Violation

The cryptocurrency exchange based in San Francisco called Coinbase has reportedly shut down an account that belonged to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks’ online store. The reason that they have been told for the suspension of the account is that they violated the terms of service at Coinbase. Sudden Announcement The suspension by Coinbase of the account for the WikiLeaks Shop at their exchange has come without any prior warning. This blocking of the account will mean that WikiLeaks Shop will no longer be able to process brokerage orders using the Coinbase exchange. WikiLeaks has gone on to Twitter to state that this move by Coinbase was completely sudden and the San Francisco based cryptocurrency exchange has offered them no explanation whatsoever about the “terms of Service” that WikiLeaks had violated resulting in this suspension. After this ban, WikiLeaks has told its followers through Twitter that they can still make donations to the organization. They can donate Bitcoin directly on their website and other cryptocurrencies like Monero, Zcash, Litecoin and Ethereum. It has also been noted that there will be more payment options made available to them. Global Blockade It is not surprising that WikiLeaks is not going to take this uncalled for suspension on the part of Coinbase without letting the cryptocurrency exchange face any repercussions for its actions. It has gone on to call for a global blockade of Coinbase, making the announcement for support through its Twitter. The followers of WikiLeaks Shop were very quick to respond to this suspension by Coinbase with plenty of them saying that they will stop using Coinbase because of this suspension. Julian Assange is currently residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and has had his access to the internet stopped since March. This was around the same time that WikiLeaks Shop had been stopped from receiving payments in cryptocurrency from Coinbase. WikiLeaks had reached out to Coinbase for further explanation about what the reasons are for having suspended their Coinbase account but the lack of details in their explanation has made it clear for them that they must take the course of action they are going for. Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange, which is registered with the US Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The only explanation that they have deigned fit to give about the matter is that WikiLeaks Shop had engaged in activity that has violated the Terms of Service. Bottom Line With informing WikiLeaks Shop in an email that their account had been suspended, Coinbase also gave them the directive that they should move their cryptocurrency assets, which are at the cryptocurrency exchange, to a digital wallet elsewhere. The suspension of WikiLeaks Shop from Coinbase is not too much of a blow really. There are more cryptocurrency exchanges that the whistleblowing website can make use of to accept donations being made by supporters. With Robinhood Crypto, a rival to Coinbase pushing towards establishing a presence in the US, it just might seem that followers of WikiLeaks might just stop using Coinbase and switch to using Robinhood Crypto instead. Sources* Image Reference https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7041/6949154883_1503a9e6fe.jpg