The domain registrar Epik claims that this step is politically motivated and that conservative voices should take the platform.
PayPal no longer serves domain registrar Epik because of the risk of money laundering through its “alternative currency” Masterbucks, according to an article on Mashable.
However, in a series of open letters, Robert Davis, Epik’s senior vice president of strategy and communications, suspected that this move was intended to take away conservative voices.
Epik provides domain services to extreme right-wing websites, including Gab and the Proud Boys. The domain “Proud Boys” has recently been used to send threatening e-mails to democratic voters. Iran is said to have been the mastermind.
The currency Masterbucks is the epic solution to the “lack of conventional liquidity”. According to the company, this is “one of the biggest structural challenges that the domain industry has to overcome today”.
Masterbucks can be used for transactions within the Epic network or converted into US dollars. An archived version of Epik’s Masterbucks website also advertises the tax benefits of the currency. However, this has since been removed.
An unnamed source cited by Mashable claimed that Epik did not meet the legal requirements for such a currency and called for tax evasion. PayPal allegedly informed Epik of the problems over a month ago and tried to find a solution before the account was finally closed.
Cointelegraph reported that PayPal announced last week that it would enter the crypto-currency market in 2021. Users will be able to make payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).