Google Suspends MetaMask From Its Play App Store, Citing “Deceptive Services”

Published at: Dec. 26, 2019

Google has banned Ethereum (ETH) wallet and decentralized app (DApp) browser Metamask’s android client from its Play app store.

The MetaMask team took to Twitter on Dec. 26, where they announced that Google had suspended MetaMask’s android client from Google Play’s app store, claiming MetaMask was in violation of Google’s financial services policies.

Google reportedly cited their policy prohibiting cryptocurrency mining on mobile devices. The MetaMask team attempted to appeal Google’s decision to ban MetaMask from its app store to no avail, as Google promptly rejected the appeal. MetaMask co-lead developer Dan Findlay told Cointelegraph:

“I very much hope that this was an honest mistake on the part of Google's reviewers, but in combination with all the crypto YouTube bans, it definitely puts me at disease about how Google is engaging with decentralizing technologies. If people accept this behavior from a mobile monopoly like Google, we may not deserve something better.”

Not the only Google project to bar crypto-related content

Over the past several days, Google-owned video giant YouTube had removed videos from the accounts of several cryptocurrency-related content creators. Today, however, YouTube representatives have claimed that the removals were done in error and some content has started to be restored.

Nonetheless, the unilateral nature by which YouTube videos were removed and then reinstated has led many content creators to begin exploring migration to decentralized video hosting alternatives.

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Blockchain
Cryptocurrencies
Google
Mining
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