Popular newsletter platform Mailchimp has banned the accounts of several cryptocurrency-focused media outlets without warning.
Companies and NFT artists have also been caught up in the suspensions.
According to Mailchimp’s acceptable use policy, it does not offer its services to firms whose businesses are related to promoting “cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies, and any digital assets related to an Initial Coin Offering”.
It officially adopted the policy in 2018 and claims to allow for reporting on crypto, as long as the content does not promote it.
Decrypt and Messari took to Twitter to complain about their treatment.
Not only was there zero warning, we can’t even access our subscriber lists (which luckily we have a backup of because I trust nobody). If @Mailchimp‘s management of crypto clients is this haphazard, I shiver to think of what enforcement looks like for actual nefarious actors https://t.co/t2ylOeJo3h
— jared.info (🥃,🦉) 📍atl (@JaredRonis) August 10, 2022
Today @Mailchimp, which we have used for 4+ years, deactivated our newsletter account with no warning or explanation. now I see from Twitter searches it has happened to lots of crypto content creators this week. has it happened to you? we’d like to hear about it.
— Daniel Roberts (@readDanwrite) August 9, 2022
Messari founder Ryan Selkis added in a further tweet: “Thank you for deplatforming some of crypto’s most reputable brands in the past 48 hours.
“You’re proving our point. Mailchimp – and all speech censors – must be destroyed.”
Other accounts to be suspended include custody crypto wallet Edge, NFT artist Ocarina and Jesse Friedland, founder of NFT collection Cryptoon Goonz.
Mailchimp, which was acquired by financial services giant Intuit last year, banned publishers Blockworks and ShapeShift in past years.
Another popular email marketing platform Constant Contact also lists cryptocurrency under its prohibited content policy.