YouTube Bans Crypto Channel for 'Encouraging Illegal Activities'

Another cryptocurrency-related YouTube channel appears to have fallen afoul of the platform's community policies.

According to a July 31 tweet from crypto community members and brothers Aaron and Austin Arnold, their Altcoin Daily channel with 214,000 subscribers was terminated by YouTube for “encouraging illegal activities.” 

“We are a news/opinion channel,” the two said on Twitter. “We have never promoted anything illegal. Appeal has been submitted.”

The brothers reached out to Altcoin Daily’s 27,700 Twitter followers urging them to contact YouTube and request reinstatement, using hashtags including #FreeAltcoinDaily.

After more than two days in which the channel content was completely inaccessible to subscribers, Altcoin Daily reported on August 3 that the YouTube had reversed the ban.

Targeting crypto channels

YouTube aggressively deleted videos with content related to cryptocurrency in December 2019. Channels with tens of thousands of subscribers or more including Chris Dunn’s had videos removed, while Crypto Beadles Robert Beadles’ page was removed entirely. YouTube referred to one of these bans as “an error” during the review process.

In June, the platform shut down the official channel of cryptocurrency news-focused website Bitcoin.com for “a violation of YouTube's Terms of Service.” After an appeal, the channel with all 40,000 subscribers was restored two days later. Other crypto content creators had their channels reinstated after 24 hours offline, including Tone Vays and BTC Sessions, a blockchain-based YouTube channel.

Cointelegraph has had similar experiences regarding YouTube’s strange attitude towards cryptocurrency. The platform suddenly pulled the plug on our Bitcoin Halving livestream in May, and cut the livestream coverage on the recent Twitter hack short.