Can Bitcoin Fix This? PayPal Block Payments to Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Group

The League of Social Democrats (LSD), one of the last remaining pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong, said its account had been blocked by PayPal’s Hong Kong division. Thus, it has not been able to accept any new donations from supporters. Can Bitcoin fix this?

Founded 16 years ago, LSD is the last active pro-democracy group in Hong Kong after China implemented the national security law. The group is known for its strong pro-democracy stance and creative street protests. Like every other pro-democracy group, they receive donations from supporters to stay afloat.

PayPal Block Payments to LSD

According to a report by a local media outlet on Wednesday, LSD said it received an email from PayPal’s Hong Kong division on September 19 that its account has been terminated due to “excessive risks,” and since then it has not been able to accept new donations from its supporters.

LSD noted that the message came as a shock to the group and that PayPal did not explain what it meant by ‘excessive risks.’

Although LSD has not been able to accept any new donations via its PayPal account since the email, Chow Ka-fat, the external vice-chairperson of the group, stated that they can still withdraw funds left in the account.

Chow noted that on average, the group receives several thousand Hong Kong dollars monthly, but after account termination, it now has one less way to receive donations.

“It seems like even when doing business, companies have to think about who they are dealing with in advance. That sort of business freedom in the past has seemingly gone,” Chow said.

Is Bitcoin Better?

While PayPal blocks the account of an organization over unspecified excessive risks, a situation like this cannot occur when using the Bitcoin network for payments.

Unlike PayPal, which uses centralized infrastructure and is controlled by its parent company, Bitcoin is a decentralized platform that has no single or central control system. At the base level, organizations have unlimited access to funds and cannot see their accounts frozen or blocked as there are no central authorities to do that.