WikiLeaks Tells Supporters to Boycott Coinbase for Joining US Extra Judicial Financial Embargo

By Jay Syrmopoulos

 San Francisco, CA – WikiLeaks has called for a “global blockade” against Coinbase, the largest bitcoin brokerage of cryptocurrency in the world, after they effectively suspended the  WikiLeaks Shop’s account for allegedly being in violation of the  platform’s terms of agreements—although Coinbase has refused to specify  what took place to prompt the suspension. 

“To protect the privacy of our customers, we do not comment on individual accounts,” a Coinbase spokesperson told The Independent. 

After the suspension, the WikiLeaks Shop published a screenshot of a message received from Coinbase. “Upon careful review, we believe your account has engaged 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,” the message states. “We respectfully request that you  follow the on-screen instructions presented when you log into your  Coinbase account to send any remaining balance offsite to an external  address.”   

In response to Coinbase banning WikiLeaks’ online store from using its service, the organization has called for a “global blockade” of the cryptocurrency brokerage. Additionally, WikiLeaks highlighted the fact that there was “concealed influence” behind the suspension, as the transparency organization’s finances have continually been targeted by the U.S.   

Ironically, the reason WikiLeaks first began accepting cryptocurrency  donations in 2010 was due to a previous concealed influence operation  that saw the U.S. government push Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal to engage  in an extrajudicial financial embargo by cutting off all avenues of financial support for WikiLeaks. 

A report by Fortune reveals how the recent move by Coinbase sounds  eerily similar to that undertaken by Visa and MasterCard in 2010: 

Neither Visa or MasterCard has  revealed any political pressure behind their move to cut off WikiLeaks.  But the two firms no doubt felt that pressure from both sides of the  political aisle, as Attorney General Eric Holder has promised to explore  all legal options against WikiLeaks and Senate Minority Leader Mitch  McConnell and others have branded him a “terrorist.”  

Despite the financial blockade, WikiLeaks’ early adoption of bitcoin  allowed the whistleblowing organization to continue to fund operations,  with the bitcoin address used to accept donations having received more than 4,000 bitcoins to date, which today is worth more than $36 million. 

WikiLeaks has accused Coinbase of essentially joining the financial  blockade against the transparency organization at the behest of the U.S.  government—and the lack of any reasonable explanation by Coinbase seems  to clearly bolster that position. While Coinbase has refused to provide any rationale for its decision to suspend the WikiLeaks Shop, a hint as to the “concealed influence” being applied by the U.S. government is the statement regarding honoring “regulatory compliance mechanisms” set forth by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, under which the platform is regulated. 

The timing of these events is interesting, as the suspension of the  WikiLeaks Store comes only one week after the New York Attorney General  Schneiderman launched an investigation into Coinbase and 12 other major cryptocurrency exchanges. 

While the New York AG’s investigation is almost certain to be a  precursor to increased financial regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges,  under the auspices of increased protection and security of customers,  the reality is likely that jettisoning the major funding mechanism for  WikiLeaks is part of some quid pro quo by Coinbase in hopes of keeping  tighter regulation at bay.

“With cryptocurrency on the rise, consumers in New York and  across the country have a right to transparency and accountability when  they invest their money,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. 

“Yet  too often, consumers don’t have the basic facts they need to assess the  fairness, integrity, and security of these trading platforms. Our  Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative sets out to change that, promoting  the accountability and transparency in the virtual currency marketplace  that investors and consumers deserve.” 

The Guardian reported that in 2010, “US  financial institutions including Visa, Bank of America, Mastercard,  PayPal and Western Union, stopped accepting or handling payments  intended for WikiLeaks in December 2010, after the site began leaking US  diplomatic cables from a cache of nearly 250,000 it had acquired.” 

At the time, both MasterCard and Visa said that they were cutting the links because WikiLeaks was “engaging in or facilitating”  illegal activity, while a PayPal vice president actually admitted that  he had come under pressure from the US State Department to cut payment  links with the site. 

While there is currently no evidence to directly suggest that  Coinbase is capitulating to government overlords pressing the company to  compliance under threat of investigation, regulation and/or  prosecution—given the facts surrounding how events have transpired  regarding the vast effort to sway financial companies to sever providing  services to WikiLeaks—it is certainly not out of the question, and in  fact, quite likely to be going on. 

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