WikiLeaks Calls For “Global Boycott” Of Coinbase Over Refusal To Allow Online Store

in #news6 years ago

WikiLeaks has called for a “global blockade” of Coinbase after the  world’s biggest Bitcoin brokerage banned the whistleblowing  organization’s online store from using its service to accept payments  for its store. 

The WikiLeaks shop stated that Coinbase blamed the suspension on U.S.  financial regulations, which to this writer’s knowledge there are no new  regulations for cryptocurrency in the U.S., so it is unclear to what  financial regulations Coinbase is referring. 

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/987531916055318528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoinivore.com%2F2018%2F04%2F24%2Fwikileaks-calls-for-global-boycott-of-coinbase-over-refusal-to-allow-online-store%2F

https://twitter.com/WikiLeaksShop/status/987510235349663744/photo/1

Andreas Antonopoulos pointed out on Twitter that users were first  attracted to Bitcoin as a way to donate to WikiLeaks after PayPal, VISA  and Mastercard donations were cut off in  2010. Antonopoulos expressed how Coinbase was repeating history by  barring WikiLeaks from using its services for its harmless shop that  sells merchandise for its supporters including – T-shirts, coffee mugs,  mousepads, posters and the list goes on and on. But one thing the  WikiLeaks shop doesn’t sell is weaponry being an anti-war organization,  so the ban makes no sense unless it is politically motivated. 

https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/987534436811100160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoinivore.com%2F2018%2F04%2F24%2Fwikileaks-calls-for-global-boycott-of-coinbase-over-refusal-to-allow-online-store%2F

Last year WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange mocked  the U.S. government, thanking them for forcing the last blockade noting  that WikiLeaks had made an unheard return of 50,000%  from  hodling Bitcoin since 2010. 

Wikileaks has also opted for Litecoin, and they have since expanded recently to accepting the more secure altcoin Zcash as well. 

Litecoin creator Charlie Lee and Assange both vowed  to fight government censorship using cryptocurrency last December.  Around Christmas last year, Lee tweeted in gift-giving spirit that he  had sent an unknown donation amount to the recently recognized media  organization (WIKILEAKS) thanking the group by stating “no company or  government can stop me. That’s what makes crypto-currency valuable!” 

Lee added that people being upset with him for donating to WikiLeaks  shows why censorship resistance is so important, stating that if those  people could they would stop everyone from donating to WikiLeaks. “The  point is, it’s my money and only I decide what I do with it. Period,”  Lee tweeted

Lee, known online by his Twitter handle SatoshiLite, has not responded  to the news of the WikiLeaks shop being banned from Coinbase, as of the  time of this report. But this reporter imagines that he will not be very  happy with the news based on his previous sentiments for the  organization. 

Julian Assange previously expressed that “Bitcoin is the real Occupy Wall st.”  

https://twitter.com/JulianAssange/status/941600368588476416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoinivore.com%2F2018%2F04%2F24%2Fwikileaks-calls-for-global-boycott-of-coinbase-over-refusal-to-allow-online-store%2F

This comes amid an ongoing illegal blockade against Assange,  disconnecting him from the Internet and preventing any visitors to the  Ecuadorian Embassy in London. It is a clear violation of his human  rights, further isolating Assange from the outside world as his health  deteriorates according to doctors who saw Assange in January. 

 “@JulianAssange  was facing the health consequences of nearly 6 years in arbitrary  detention. Since then, he has suffered increasingly punitive and  politically-motivated measures to increase his isolation,” Sean Love, MD tweeted. 

WikiLeaks has been accepting cryptocurrencies since 2011 when a banking blockade attempted  to cut the non-profit publisher off from its revenue streams. This  caused a widespread backlash as the international hacking collective  Anonymous took down websites of Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal under Operation Payback

Zcash uses a cryptographic methodology called zk-Snark, a form of zero-knowledge cryptography, which allows the data of a transmission to be concealed. This means that people who donate to WikiLeaks can send a transaction without anyone or government ever being able to see who sent it or how much was transacted. 

WikiLeaks supporters may find this advantageous to still be able to  provide support for Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy but not end up on  an intelligence agency watch list in the process. 

WikiLeaks is notorious for publishing classified government documents that bring transparency to governments all over the world. 

You can sign the petition to #ReconnectJulian here and donate to WikiLeaks through their donation link here or above. 

Bitcoin is currently trading at [FIAT: $9,212.72] according to Coin Market Cap at the time of this report. 

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I wish there would be a lot more competition for Coinbase. I also wish that competition would come in the form of more DEX. I tried Bisq as DEX for exchanging fiat for bitcoin, but there isn't much of a market there and I don't know of any others.

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