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Cryptocurrency donations made to the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns and runs Wikipedia, are no longer accepting crypto donations. It took three months of deliberation, as per the report. Molly White, a Wikipedia contributor, tweeted an image of the notification. According to Mashable, White also maintains the ‘Web3 is Going Great’ website, which records cryptocurrency frauds and attacks. During a three-month-long conversation on Twitter, the decision was reached to discontinue Wikipedia crypto donation.
Over three months, 400 Wikipedia editors debated the benefits and drawbacks of Wikipedia cryptocurrency donation, with 232 voting against it and 94 voting in favor of it. The remaining editors were not allowed to participate in the voting process. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are incredibly dangerous investments that have only just become popular with individual investors, and I don’t think we should be supporting their usage in this way. I feel we are mainstreaming the use of “investments” and technologies that are essentially predatory by adopting them,” the proposition said.
Difficulties like “environmental sustainability, the implied acceptance of cryptocurrencies’ issues, and community concerns with the harm to the movement’s reputation by taking cryptocurrency” were among common arguments in favor of the request to suspend crypto. According to opponents, proof-of-stake (PoS) cryptos are less energy heavy than traditional cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin). They are safer alternatives to giving and engaging in financial transactions for oppressed people who donate crypto for Wikipedia.
According to the state of Vermont, accepting crypto donations implies that we risk hurting our brand. The Wikipedian cited Mozilla, a prominent web browser, as an example of a company reconsidering its decision to accept bitcoin payments after receiving a lot of negative feedback. On the other hand, Mozilla resumed bitcoin payments a few days ago. In a blog post, the corporation stated that it would only accept cryptocurrency that uses Proof of Stake rather than Proof of Work, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc.
According to Vermont’s statistics, the Wikimedia foundation received crypto contributions of $130,000 in the most recent fiscal year, which is less than 0.1% of the organization’s revenue, which exceeded $150 million the previous year. Wikipedia had 347 cryptocurrency donors in the past financial year, with Bitcoin being the most often utilized payment method for accepting crypto donations.
Increasing Cryptocurrency Controversy
In the end, 232 long-time Wikipedia editors backed the decision to stop accepting Bitcoin payments, while 94 argued against it. Votes like these do not bind the Wikimedia Foundation. According to the law, the foundation is not obligated to follow the wishes of the Wikipedia community.
Musk declared last year that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin payments to purchase Tesla automobiles. Elon Musk. Tesla started taking bitcoins for Tesla barely two months before this statement. Steam, a popular gaming platform, said in 2017 that it would no longer take bitcoin, citing high transaction costs on the Bitcoin network.
