MailChimp has begun shutting down the accounts of websites that use their service for cryptocurrency and ICO promotions. The decision has left these projects scrambling to find alternate service providers and many commentators confused as to their actions compared to their statement that news and educational services would not be affected.
This is the second instance I hear of @mailchimp shutting down accounts related to crypto-currencies. Not ones advertising ICOs, or even exchanges. Just news, books, event announcements. https://t.co/R424TfN50W
— Andreas M. Antonopoulos (@aantonop) March 29, 2018
The ban comes about as MailChimp updated its Acceptable Use Policy to include the following:
[W]e cannot allow businesses involved in any aspect of the sale, transaction, exchange, storage, marketing or production of cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies, and any digital assets related to an Initial Coin Offering, to use MailChimp to facilitate or support any of those activities.
A MailChimp spokesperson told Gizmodo:
“Journalists and publications may send cryptocurrency-related information as long as they’re not involved in the production, sale, exchange, storage, or marketing of cryptocurrencies.”
According to MailChimp then news publications are safe. However, that does not appear to be the case:
https://twitter.com/evan_van_ness/status/979485548476710912
So @MailChimp is closing the Week In Ethereum account in four weeks because they hate blockchains.
Centralized power is exactly why we need blockchains and MailChimp is really just accelerating the rise of it’s crypto friendly competition:
Many companies are banning crypto related advertising – Google, Twitter, Facebook and now MailChimp? Seems a little extreme. You can email market using BannerMailer. No censorship of crypto! https://t.co/eHday2tMck
— BannerView.com (@BannerView) March 31, 2018
Of course MailChimp isn’t the only service that has started to prohibit the marketing and promotion of cryptocurrency-related content. Social media and search giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google have also bannedcryptocurrency and ICO-related advertising on their platforms.
As more and more means of promotion are denied cryptocurrency and ICO related projects and businesses, it will be interesting to see who steps into the breach to fill the gap that MailChimp and the others have left open.
Satoshi used a mailing list. So can we.
— A v B ⚡ (@ArminVanBitcoin) March 29, 2018
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