Censorship Resistant: Users Recommend Bitcoin After PayPal Bans Hacker News’ Accounts

Hacker News, a website focused on updates related to cybersecurity issues, has recently revealed that leading payment processing company PayPal banned its accounts without giving them a reason for doing so.

That’s so much frustrating.@PayPal has permanently banned all of our accounts without mentioning any reason and hold wallet funds wrongly for 180 days.

Upon asking, @AskPayPal also refused to share any details.

— The Hacker News (@TheHackersNews) December 29, 2018

According to a tweet from the official Hacker News Twitter account, PayPal “permanently banned” all of Hacker News’ accounts “without mentioning any reason” while also holding the news outlet’s “wallet funds” for 180 days.

Litecoin & Bitcoin “Blow Away” PayPal

When Hacker News reportedly asked PayPal to explain why it stopped providing payment services to the security news site, the firm’s customer support account refused to share any details regarding its decision. According to Hacker News: “Instead of giving a valid reason, [PayPal] said “specific reasons for such a decision [are]proprietary & [will]not [be]released since that could impair PayPal’s ability to do business in a safe and secure manner.”

Commenting on PayPal’s decision to ban its accounts while not explaining why it did so, Hacker News pointed out that a company is obligated to give “at least one valid reason” for their decisions regarding refusing service(s) to their customers. In response to PayPal’s ban, variousTwitter users suggested using bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency, to send and receive payments.

Twitter user Jon Moore recommended litecoin (LTC). He added that BTC and LTC payments “blow away PayPal” as they are a much better option and user funds cannot be frozen when using cryptos. Moreover, the transaction fees for LTC and BTC payments are much lower than what PayPal charges, Jon Moore noted.

Gab Turned to Crypto After Being Banned By PayPal

As CryptoGlobe reported recently, the “free speech social network” Gab started accepting cryptocurrency payments after it was denied service from PayPal and other traditional payment processors. Established in August 2016, the controversial free speech-supporting version of microblogging service Twitter has seen its userbase increase steadily since it started.

However, the Gab network has experienced its share of problems recently,as one of its users, Robert Bowers, murdered 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg, United States, on October 27. Due to the violent incident, GoDaddy, Stripe, Medium, and PayPal stopped providing services to Gab. Gab’s web hosting service provider also terminated its relationship with it.

Similar to how many people recommended crypto to the Hacker News, various social media users also suggested that Gab accept payments in bitcoin. Soon after PayPal banned Gab from using its services, the plaform’s management team announced it would take LTC and BTC as payments. Commenting on the financial freedom bitcoin provides, Gab’s managers remarked:

You will never fully understand the power and importance of bitcoin until you go through the underwriting process with banks trying to get approved for online payment processing. They essentially want your unborn child, an arm, and all of your personal data to get an answer.