Wikipedia halts cryptocurrency donations after accepting them for 8 years

The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), the non-profit organization that manages Wikipedia has announced that it has stopped accepting crypto donations.

In an update made by the WMF, the organization said it has “has decided to discontinue direct acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of donating” and also stated that it shall also close its Bitpay account.

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The decision was reached after a protracted debate among some 300 WMF members majority of whom voted to remove crypto donations. 234 members voted to remove crypto donations while 94 members voted to retain the crypto donations.

WMF has accepted crypto donations for about 8 years since it started the service in 2014.

Some of the reasons that informed the WMF’s decision to stop crypto donations include the environmental impact of Bitcoin, the risks of scams, and the fact that the crypto donations that the WMF received were little compared to the traditional methods of making donations.

In 2021 for example, WMF only collected about $130,100 in Bitcoin donations, which accounts for only 0.08% of the total donations.

WMF policy reevaluation

The vote that was conducted by WMF members made the WMF reconsider its policy on accepting Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum contributions.

Molly White, who is a longtime Wikipedia editor going by the handle GorillaWarfare on Wikipedia and the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great, was the first in January to suggest that Wikipedia should stop accepting crypto donations arguing that accepting the crypto donations was against its commitment to environmental sustainability. Molly also argued that accepting crypto donations showed that Wikipedia supports “inherently predatory” investments.

Molly’s proposal was accepted in February leading to the vote that was just conducted.