WikiLeaks Shop, which offers WikiLeaks merchandise, has been blocked by Coinbase. The company announced on Twitter that no prior notice or explanation was given by the exchange.
ANNOUNCE: Coinbase has blocked the official @WikiLeaks shop from its platform without notice or explanation. You can continue to donate #Bitcoin to WikiLeaks at https://t.co/lvhoyhlqUa. #Coinbase #DefendWL #Cryptocurrency #Ethereum #BitcoinCash #ReconnectJulian pic.twitter.com/4BSS023OOk
— WikiLeaks Shop (@WikiLeaksShop) April 21, 2018
WikiLeaks called for a “global blockcade of Coinbase” and claimed that it is “an unfit member of the crypto community”.
WikiLeaks will call for a global blockade of Coinbase next week as an unfit member of the crypto community. Coinbase, a large Californian Bitcoin processor, responding to a concealed influence, has blocked the entirely harmless @WikiLeaksShop in a decision approved by management. https://t.co/PAldF8b12P
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 21, 2018
Andreas M. Antonopoulos, a Greek-british Bitcoin advocate, also responded to the issue, “We have come full circle. Many people’s interest in bitcoin started when Wikileaks was out under an extra judicial embargo by VISA, MC, PayPal and banks. Now Coinbase has repeated history. Oops.”
WikiLeaks Shop currently accepts credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin, Litecoin, ZCash, Monero, Ethereum, cheque and bank transfer. Users can even buy cryptokitties such as Embassy Cat CryptoKitty, Mr. WikiLeaks, Mrs. WikiLeaks and Trump’s Tender Tabby. The website invested in Bitcoin as early as 2010. Last year, founder Julian Assange said that the company had in turn received more than 50,000% returns. “My deepest thanks to the US government, Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman for pushing Visa, MasterCard, Payal, AmEx, Mooneybookers, et al, into erecting an illegal banking blockade against @WikiLeaks starting in 2010,” wrote Assange. He also said that cryptocurrencies are the tools that can be used to avoid “financial sanctions” posed by governments.
Meanwhile, Coinbase added the web3 dapp browser Cipher and hired Rachel Horowitz as the Vice President of Communications this month. Horowitz served as the Director of Technology Communications at Facebook before joining the famous cryptocurrency exchange. She also commented on merging the free API toolkit for bitcoin app developers, Toshi, with Cipher, “[Coinbase is] always looking to acquire the best teams and technologies in the crypto spaces. Given the similarity of our product visions, we’re happy to be joining forces with Pete, who will become head of engineering for Toshi alongside Sid Coelho-Prabhu, Coinbase’s product lead for Toshi. In coming weeks, we’ll merge certain features of Cipher into Toshi.”