Following a lengthy 3-month debate involving hundreds of people, Wikimedia has decided to stop accepting donations made in cryptocurrencies. Arguments raised included the environmental impact of the Bitcoin network (BTC) and the “fraudulent” atmosphere of cryptocurrencies.
Wikimedia will no longer receive donations in cryptocurrencies
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will soon no longer accept donations in cryptocurrencies. Until now, Wikipedia’s parent company has accepted donations in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), or Bitcoin Cash (BCH), but this will soon no longer be possible following a long and heated 3-month debate within the community
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
The participatory platform had been accepting cryptocurrency donations for 8 years now, first through Coinbase, before moving to BitPay in particular to accept Ether payments. At the time of the addition of cryptocurrency payment, Wikimedia claimed that it would make financial contribution for the site “as simple and inclusive as possible”.
Looking in detail at the lengthy discussion between the various stakeholders (around 400 people), it is revealed that cryptocurrency donations represented only 0.08% of total donations over the year 2021, with only 347 people having contributed to crowdfunding in this form.
Thus, by 234 votes to 94, the final vote was largely against cryptocurrency donations, mostly on environmental grounds. Following the community votes, a discussion was held internally which resulted in the permanent cessation of cryptocurrency donations.
What were the reasons given?
As we mentioned in January, when the initial debate was started by member “GorillaWarfare”, most of the arguments centered around 2 main points:
- The environmental impact of the Bitcoin network, which operates through Proof of Work (PoW) consensus;
- The “fraudulent” and “predatory” environment of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, which is said to be full of scams and scams.
Also, here are some of the arguments raised on the voting section against cryptocurrency donations:
” [1] The cryptocurrency donation feature completely ignores the commitment to sustainability, cryptocurrencies have a huge impact on the environment. [2] By accepting Bitcoin, Wikimedia legitimises a series of environmentally unfriendly Ponzi schemes and receives almost no financial return. [3] Cryptocurrencies are a scam and are extremely bad for the environment, I think WMF should stay away from them. “
Arguments in favor of cryptocurrency donations include the proof-of-stake method or debanked people:
“[1] On the contrary, crypto-currencies are in line with our values of free platform and freedom of use. [2] Not all crypto-currencies are the same and do not have the same impact on the environment, which seems to be the main reason why people support this idea. The move to proof-of-stake crypto-currencies addresses this specific problem. [3] Instead, we need to reform our crypto donations, not destroy them. For environmental sustainability, we should use crypto with a low carbon footprint. “
Conclusion
We therefore note that the comments against the use of cryptocurrencies for the environmental side are limited to the PoW method, while blockchains operating via the PoS method are much less energy intensive. Some, like Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) or Algorand (ALGO), are even committed to the environment.
For example, we could mention the Polygon (MATIC) sidechain, which recently announced that it was aiming for total carbon neutrality by the end of the year.
For the more curious among you, we had made an article summarising the Chainalysis report on the share of cryptocurrencies in criminal activities and illicit transactions, in order to have a more global view of things.
For example, Wikimedia announced that it will soon close its Bitpay account in order to end the cryptocurrency payment method. At the end of the public discussion, the Wikimedia team clarifies that “we will remain flexible and responsive to the needs of volunteers and donors. “
