> Strictly speaking I should have killed the post entirely
And this was 9 months ago. We are left to assume that the policy was enforced (after all, if the post were killed, it wouldn't show up in a search).
And even in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6931168
> I've been keeping my mouth shut here about Coinbase after starting that thread 9 months ago.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear others echo the same sentiment (concern about expressing grievances about Coinbase) especially after PG's responses in the original conversation.
Others in the original thread refuted the argument you are presenting, so I recommend you start https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5428757 before rehashing arguments that have already been addressed
Given that many defenders of coinbase, including PG, are seeing support requests as criticisms, (threads that criticize coinbase = threads that seem like support requests) in their heads.
Therefore, (pointing to the statement that HN is not a support forum) + (commenting that PG should have killed the thread) = (PG is likely to kill all threads that may seem like support requests) = (PG is likely to kill all threads that criticize coinbase)
You said that the standard approach on HN is to silence criticism -- a stupefying statement, given that at the time you posted it, this conversation had maybe 100+ comments and had been on the front page for a while. Also, in that same comment, you linked to another voluminous thread criticizing Coinbase. Amazingly, the existence of your comment strongly mitigates against your thesis being true.
I think you must realize this at some level, as you have chosen to employ the age-old tactic of the inescapably wrong: quietly change subjects and hope nobody notices.