The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has declared that it will no longer accept crypto donations because of environmental concerns. Following a three-month debate, the Wikipedia foundation made its decision at the end of last month.
“We began our direct acceptance of cryptocurrency in 2014 based on requests from our volunteers and donor communities. We are making this decision based on recent feedback from those same communities,” Wikimedia stated.
Around 70% of 400 users agreed with the decision to refuse crypto donations. The WMF has accepted cryptocurrency donations in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum for the past eight years. All of these now employ energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mechanisms.
The WMF stated that it received $130,100 in cryptocurrency donations from 347 donors in the previous fiscal year, accounting for just 0.08 percent of its total revenue. The WMF had to review its policy on accepting Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum contributions, which had been in place since 2014.
Molly White, a longtime Wikipedia editor and the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great, proposed to the Wikimedia Foundation in January that it stop accepting cryptocurrency donations, claiming that doing so contradicts the organization’s commitment to environmental sustainability and signals that the Wikimedia Foundation supports “inherently predatory” investments. Her application was accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation in February.
Mozilla’s reevaluation of its engagement in the crypto area was one of the other arguments made by White (who goes by the Wikipedia handle GorillaWarfare). After receiving unfavorable criticism from customers, developers, and one of the company’s founders, Mozilla decided to stop accepting bitcoin payments in April.
“I’m really happy that the Wikimedia Foundation implemented the request from its community, and I’m proud of my community for making what I feel was the ethical decision after a lot of thoughtful discussions,” White said in a statement to The Verge. “There are just too many issues with crypto for any potential donation revenue to be worth the cost of helping to legitimize it.”
Finally, the WMF stated that it would continue to monitor the situation and stay flexible and attentive to the demands of volunteers and funders in its statement.
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