Donations in cryptocurrency will no longer be accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation after a three-month discussion over the advantages and downsides of crypto was triggered by certain community members.
Following a survey in which more than 70% of respondents stated they wished to stop accepting bitcoin contributions, the organisation announced its decision.
With the recent comments from the [volunteers and donor] communities, the Wikimedia Foundation has decided to suspend accepting cryptocurrencies directly as a donation method.
Beginning in 2014, the foundation started taking Bitcoin as a form of currency. It was thought at the time that introducing Bitcoin as a contribution option would make it “as easy and inclusive as feasible” to contribute to the Wikimedia Foundation. For a long time, Wikipedia has placed a high value on its worldwide reach, and it now supports articles in 326 languages.
Coinbase was first used to receive Bitcoin contributions, however, the organisation later switched to BitPay in order to accept more cryptocurrencies.
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However, previous to the prohibition, Wikipedia’s exposure to cryptography was minimal at best. Wikimedia Foundation got bitcoins from just 347 distinct contributors in 2021. According to Wikimedia Foundation Community Relations Specialist Julia Brungs, just 0.08 percent of the charity’s earnings came from crypto last year, and the foundation has never “owned bitcoin.”
This year’s most popular cryptocurrency was Bitcoin. Donations are spot-converted daily into fiat money (USD), therefore there is no big environmental effect,” Brungs stated in January. “We’ve never kept any cryptocurrency.
Molly White, a software engineer and Wikipedia editor reported in January that just 400 people in the crypto community were involved in the argument.
However, White noted that many of the accounts looked to be “single-purpose accounts formed expressly for the conversation” in order to convince the foundation against cryptocurrency. White.
According to the survey, “problems of environmental sustainability” were a prominent justification against bitcoin. Proof-of-work mining is not used by all blockchains; for example, Avalanche, Tezos, Solana, and Cardano are among the more energy-efficient alternatives.
In places where Wikipedia is forbidden or controlled, supporters of crypto contributions argued for the necessity for anonymous donations. People complained that the foundation should enable donations in their country’s official currencies because Bitcoin is legal money in El Salvador and the Central African Republic.
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