Wikileaks has claimed that Coinbase has suspended it from using the cryptocurrency firm’s payments service.
Coinbase offers a feature that lets online shops accept cryptocurrencies as payments. Wikileaks, which is known for publishing confidential documents, sells items from t-shirts to posters. It allows people to pay in Bitcoin.
According to Wikileaks tweet, posted over the weekend, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said that Wikileaks was in violation of its terms of service, but did not specify why. Wikileaks tweeted that it would «call for a global blockade of Coinbase» because it is «an unfit member of the crypto community».
The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange has been a big supporter of Bitcoin. He claimed in October that Wikileaks made a 50 000% return by investing in Bitcoin in 2010. Wikileaks has had a rocky history with payment processors such as Visa and MasterCard.
In 2010, MasterCard blocked its products being used to pay WikiLeaks. Paypal also restricted the account used by WikiLeaks after it said the group has violated its policy. Accepting Bitcoin was a way for WikiLeaks to circumvent these payments companies.
