Cryptocurrency marketplace Coinbase shuts down Wikileaks' Shop account for violating its terms of service

**Cryptocurrency** marketplace **Coinbase** has shut the account of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks’ Shop for allegedly violating its terms of service — which means it cannot convert payments like bitcoin into conventional money. [caption id=“attachment_3917597” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image: Coinbase[/caption] According to a report on tech website Engadget, Coinbase did not give a specific reason but it pointed to its legal requirement to honour “regulatory compliance mechanisms” under the US’ Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Interestingly, WikiLeaks is calling for a “global blockade” of Coinbase, claiming that the exchange is reacting to a “concealed influence.” Earlier this month, several tech giants, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, cracked down on malicious cryptocurrency mining practices on their platform. Google Chrome’s web policy **permitted cryptocurrency mining** in extensions as long as it is the extension’s single purpose and the user is adequately informed about the mining behaviour. “Unfortunately, approximately 90 percent of all extensions with mining scripts that developers have attempted to upload to Chrome Web Store have failed to comply with these policies, and have been either rejected or removed from the store,” James Wagner, Extensions Platform Product Manager at Google, had said. Extensions with Blockchain-related purposes other than mining will continue to be permitted in the Web Store, Google said. Twitter confirmed **to block cryptocurrency-related ads** on the platform. In January, social media giant Facebook banned all ads promoting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and ICOs.