Following a 3-month long discussion among the community, WMF (Wikimedia Foundation) – a no-profit institution at the back of Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia) has determined to terminate accepting crypto donations. In advance of this decision, contributions in Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Bitcoin were accepted by WMF. Molly White (an editor from Wikimedia) started an argument in the community of the platform to ponder over its move to embrace crypto for donations.
This paved the way for an online debate among the participants from January 10 to April 12 this year. Ultimately, a poll was organized among the participants where a large number of the community members voted in support of White’s proposal. The arguments confronting the crypto donations took account of environmental unsustainability as well as the damage caused to the reputation of Wikipedia as embracing the donations counted to be their support.
Approximately 400 of the community participants took part in the discussion, and unique as well as unregistered people were eliminated from the poll. The voting ratio of the Wikimedia community for the crypto donations’ termination was 232 as compared with 94 (nearly 71.17%). After that, the parent organization of Wikipedia was requested by them to stop donations in crypto.
Wikimedia dismisses crypto donations
On 1st May, Molly White took to Twitter and shared that the request of the community has been accepted by Wikimedia and it has terminated accepting donations in cryptocurrency. She added that the Wikimedia Foundation had initiated embracing crypto in 2014 when the requests from the donor and volunteer communities were received by the platform to do so. The Bitpay account of Wikimedia Foundation will be shut down by it, eliminating its capability to straightly acquire donations given in cryptocurrency, as elaborated by the statement.
$130,000 worth in crypto donations received by WMF in 2021
The argument started with the question by Molly White over how much has been received by Wikimedia in crypto donations. The reply from WMF was that it obtained approximately $130,000 (nearly 0.08% of the venue’s revenue) in digital assets in the last year. The majorly utilized crypto token was Bitcoin and the entirety of the donations was straightly transformed into fiat United States dollar.
Due to this, the participants discussed the Proof-of-Stake’s advantages as compared with Proof-of-Work. In the debate, the problems like mining prohibition in Russia, pseudonym donation, scams and crimes with the utilization of crypto, and money laundering were contemplated by the members.
