The Wikimedia Foundation has stopped accepting cryptocurrency donations

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Wikimedia Foundation will no longer accept donations in cryptocurrencies, as first reported by Web3 Is Going Just Great. In an update, the WMF says it has decided to stop accepting cryptocurrencies as a means of donating.

The majority of the WMF community voted to do away with the contributions. The WMF gets a low amount of donations in cryptocurrencies compared to other forms of payment, as well as the environmental implications of the technology, which is one of the main arguments. The WMF says it received just 0.08 percent of the total contributions it received in the year. The WMF held an internal discussion after the community vote and made the final call to stop donations.

The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations. The decision was made based on a community request that the WMF no longer accept crypto donations, which came out of a three-month-long discussion that wrapped up earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/RHAD0FRA5W

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) May 1, 2022

A number of issues prompted the WMF to reexamine their policy of accepting donations in the past. Molly White, a long-time editor and creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great, proposed that the WMF stop taking donations in January, arguing that it undermines the organization's commitment to environmentalsustainability and also signals that the Wikimedia Foundation supports.

White, who goes by the name GorillaWarfare, cited Mozilla's reevaluation of its involvement in the space. After receiving backlash from users, developers, and one of its founders, Jamie Zawinski, Mozilla decided to stop accepting donations in Cryptocurrencies 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 the ethical decision after a lot of thoughtful discussion.

The WMF will continue to monitor this issue and will be flexible and responsive to the needs of volunteers and donors.

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