Video sharing platform YouTube removed the 251,000-subscriber aqueduct of Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital and host of The Pomp Podcast, earlier later restoring it.

In a Monday update on his Twitter account, Pompliano — a Bitcoin (BTC) bull known for his interviews educating skeptics and others on crypto — said he received a message from YouTube claiming a contempo livestreamed interview with stock-to-flow model creator PlanB encouraged "illegal activities." Pompliano'southward entire channel was unavailable for roughly 2 hours earlier existence returned to the platform, with all videos on BTC and crypto viewable to the public.

"[YouTube] first stated that the content, an interview on Bitcoin, was harmful and unsafe," said Pompliano. "They then stated that we would receive a strike, but then I received a 2d email saying the channel was being deleted seconds later."

According to Pompliano, he had received no "strikes" — violations of YouTube'south community guidelines; 3 strikes inside 90 day can result in a aqueduct existence permanently removed — and the video seemingly didn't have any questionable content or otherwise. However, the platform'southward guidelines state it has the right to remove channels for "a single case of severe corruption" or for accounts dedicated to content including hate speech, harassment or impersonation.

YouTube had previously targeted crypto-related content on the platform, with its algorithms labeling videos on BTC and other cryptocurrencies as "harmful content," and leaving human reviewers to assess whatever grounds for entreatment. In Pompliano's case, he was able to become the attending of YouTube's support team on Twitter within minutes — likely due to his 1.1 million followers and verified account. However, other crypto content creators have reported waiting days later having their channels similarly terminated.

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The seemingly arbitrary removal of the account of a major histrion in the crypto space highlights the danger of relying on a centralized platform like YouTube. Last week, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went offline for roughly six hours, likely disrupting community engagement around crypto and blockchain projects.

In improver, YouTube has been at the center of attention for attempting to purge videos related to misinformation on health around the COVID-19 pandemic. In Baronial, the platform said it had removed more than 1 1000000 videos "related to dangerous coronavirus data" since February 2022.