After Eight Years, Wikipedia Stops Accepting crypto Donations

Wikipedia ceased to accept cryptocurrency donations following a three-month debate in which bitcoin's impact on the environment was a major issue.

Molly White, a Wikimedia editor, started a discussion within the Wikimedia community about reconsidering its decision to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method. A discussion ensued among members between January 10, 2022, and April 12, 2022. In the end, most of the community members supported White's proposal.

Among the arguments against crypto donations were concerns about the environment and damage to Wikimedia's reputation since accepting the donations meant endorsing whatever digital assets stand for.

A total of 400 members of the community attended the debate, and those who weren't registered were not allowed to vote. With 232 to 94 votes or 71.17% of the community, Wikimedia decided to discontinue crypto donations. After this, Wikipedia's parent organization asked that cryptocurrency donations be discontinued.

A tweet from Molly White on May 1 reported that Wikimedia had accepted the community's request and will no longer accept donations in cryptocurrency.

"The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations. The decision was made based on a community request that the WMF no longer accepts crypto donations, which came out of a three-month-long discussion that wrapped up earlier this month," she wrote in a recent tweet, along with a Wikipedia statement allegedly aimed at the community.


A statement from the Wikimedia Foundation explained that it had started accepting cryptocurrency in 2014 in response to requests from "volunteers and donor communities." However, over the next few days, the foundation plans to close its Bitpay account, which will prevent it from directly accepting cryptocurrency donations, the statement said. However, the organization stated that this was an "evolving issue."

The decision came after community members voted on a proposal to the foundation from contributor Molly White, who goes by the handle GorillaWarfare, who argued that accepting digital coins as investments is a sign of endorsement of a technology that is "inherently predatory" and goes against the foundation's mission.

A total of 232 to 94, or 71.17%, of the less than 400 users who voted supported no longer accepting crypto, excluding new accounts and unregistered users.

White argued that accepting crypto donations by Wikipedia would damage its reputation, referring to the decision made earlier in the year by Mozilla to halt accepting crypto donations.

BitPay is Wikipedia's payment method to accept bitcoin, bitcoin Cash, and Ether. While pointing out bitcoin's and ether's huge energy needs, White pointed out that there are other "eco-friendly" cryptocurrencies, even if they are less popular.

Cryptominers who validate transactions using enormous amounts of computing power have been criticized for damaging the environment by using proof-of-work.

However, mining companies have been using more sustainable energy sources to combat such criticism. bitcoin supporters maintain that miners can help lead the transition to clean energy.

Currently, Ethereum is working on switching to a proof-of-stake model for validating transactions, which is less energy-consuming, although the switch has been delayed for some time.

Wikipedia said it would continue to monitor the situation to see if crypto can be accepted again.

Donations received by WMF in 2021 amounted to $130,000

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Molly White started the debate by asking exactly how much money Wikimedia has received in cryptocurrency donations. According to WMF, it received over $130,000 in donations of digital assets last year or 0.08% of its revenue. Almost all donations were converted into fiat USD using bitcoin as the most commonly used cryptocurrency.

Additionally, some members discussed the benefits of "Proof of Stake" compared to "Proof of Work," the latter being considered less energy-intensive. More than 60,000 words were spent on money laundering, the use of cryptocurrencies in crime and scams, pseudonym donations, mining bans in Russia, and the flaws of central banks' fiat currency system.

The Growing Importance of Crypto Donations

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As a result of Wikipedia's latest decision, crypto donations have been brought to the fore.

Over $100 million in crypto donations have been made to Ukraine in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. A ban on crypto donations for political parties was recently imposed in Ireland due to a fear of Russian interference.

One Republican member of Louisiana's state legislature, Mark Right, introduced a bill last month to lay down rules regarding crypto donations for campaign finance.



Author: Gate.io Observer: M. Olatunji
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