The Mozilla Foundation announced this weekend that it was now accepting donations in Dogecoin (DOGE). This has raised the ire of the project’s co-founder, Jamie Zawinski, who has been outspoken in his criticism of crypto-currencies
Mozilla now accepts Dogecoin (DOGE)
Contrary to what Zawinski’s post might imply, Mozilla has been accepting crypto donations for a long time now – since 2014 to be exact. As Mozilla’s tweet explains, these are supported by BitPay.
In addition to DOGE, donors can send Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, XRP, and even Shiba Inu, though the Foundation has remained tight-lipped about this. It is noted that the use of BitPay allows Mozilla to receive funds in fiat currency, with the exchange being handled by the service provider.
Mozilla co-founder speaks out
Mozilla’s announcement regarding Dogecoin did not sit well with the open source community, which made its displeasure known on Twitter. In particular Jamie Zawinski, the co-founder of Mozilla.org, who left the project in 1999.
According to him, accepting cryptocurrencies is completely antithetical to the ideals Mozilla stands for:
Dabble in @dogecoin? HODLing some Bitcoin & Ethereum?
We’re using @BitPay to accept donations in cryptocurrency https://t.co/EOsLD1Z88O
– Mozilla (@mozilla) December 31, 2021
“Everyone involved in the project should die of shame over the decision to partner with Ponzi scammers who are incinerating the planet. “
We will briefly skip over the accusation of scamming and Ponzi, as the attack is unrealistic. When it comes to the ecological consequences of cryptocurrencies, the criticism has indeed become increasingly notable in recent months.
It is difficult to discuss the subject in a calm manner, with pro and anti systematically tearing each other apart over the different interpretations. What is known is that the ecological cost of the Bitcoin network (BTC), and of Proof of Work in general, is very poorly understood by the general public.
It is also worth noting that the ideals defended by the open source community and the crypto community often coincide, as do the methods used by the working groups to organise themselves. It is therefore interesting to see that the two can be so clearly opposed.
