The Wikimedia Foundation no longer accepts donations in cryptocurrencies

The Wikimedia Foundation no longer accepts donations in cryptocurrencies, which was done at the suggestion of Wikipedia contributor GorillaWarfare.

After Wikipedia members decided last month to remove the cryptocurrency donation option, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has confirmed that it will no longer accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to The Verge. As part of this decision, she is closing her Bitpay account to avoid future donations.

The Wikimedia Foundation no longer accepts donations in cryptocurrencies

“The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to stop directly accepting cryptocurrencies as a way to donate. We started accepting cryptocurrencies in 2014 at the request of our volunteer and donor communities. We’re making this decision today after receiving feedback from those same communities. In particular, we will close our Bitpay account, which will prevent us from receiving donations directly in cryptocurrencies,” WMF said in a statement.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and we appreciate the feedback and attention given to this currently hot topic for people around the Wikimedia movement. We will of course remain flexible and responsive to the needs of volunteers,” you can also read.

The decision was made at the suggestion of the author GorillaWarfare from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia co-author GorillaWarfare (aka Molly White) suggested that the fund stop accepting cryptocurrencies, calling them “extremely risky investments.”It also highlighted the fact that these virtual currencies fell short of the fund’s environmental commitment when we know that cryptocurrency production uses more energy than some countries in general. Molly White also cited a similar spread by the Mozilla Foundation that caused great controversy among its users.

Wikimedia welcomed requests for comment (RfC) on the GorillaWarfare proposal with 232 votes to 94. WMF said it would take all of this into account before making a final decision. “I am very proud that my community has made what I believe to be an ethical decision after a long and intense discussion,” Molly White said in a statement to The Verge. “For any potential donation system, there are simply too many issues with crypto to be truly worth the effort.”