Cryptocurrency donations will still be accepted at Wikimedia Basis as the foundation aspires to be “as inclusive as possible”.
News
Following a request from users to stop accepting crypto donations to Wikimedia Basis, the nonprofit has confirmed that it will proceed with crypto donations.
Contributors have banded together to urge the fund to disable the crypto donation option because of environmental concerns. However, while the organization will continuously monitor the conversations around crypto within its community, it will not budge when it comes to accepting crypto donations.
Elise Flick from the Wikimedia team told Cointelegraph that Wikimedia’s method of fundraising is to meet with donors where they are. Flick mentioned that the platform aims to “provide the most desirable payment options in different parts of the world.” This includes responding to requests the fund receives from donors asking to be able to donate in cryptocurrency.
“We want to be as comprehensive as possible and allow people to contribute using the method they are most comfortable with.”
Julia Brungs, Senior Public Relations Specialist from Wikimedia Basis, also answered questions from Molly White (GorillaWarfare) in the original proposal. According to Bruns, the most used cryptocurrency for donations is Bitcoin (BTC). However, the institution immediately converted it to fiat. “We have never held crypto and instantly convert daily donations into fiat currency (USD), which has had no significant environmental impact,” writes Brungs.
The response also cites data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index that says there is little evidence linking Bitcoin directly as a contributor to climate change. The data “shows that even in the worst case scenario (i.e. all-coal mining), Bitcoin’s environmental footprint is currently at its best.”
Related: ‘State of Emergency’: Wikipedia editors vote against categorizing NFTs as works of art
Meanwhile, not all organizations are willing to continue to donate crypto after receiving a response from the anti-crypto community. Earlier this January, Mozilla halted accepting crypto donations after receiving a response from a co-founder. Because of this decision, the creator of Dogecoin criticized Mozilla, saying “thank you for bowing to a reactionary, ignorant mob on the internet”.