Wikipedia stops accepting cryptocurrency donations through the Wikimedia Foundation, which has been accepting various digital tokens, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash, via its Bitpay account.
Wikipedia Stops Accepting Crypto Donations
As per a news story by CoinDesk, Wikimedia, the non-profit foundation that makes Wikipedia possible, has already decided to halt accepting crypto donations.
The Web3 is going just great creator Molly White tweeted the decision of the Wikimedia Foundation, saying that it has already decided to stop accepting donations in the form of crypto tokens.
The statement that the Web3isGreat creator posted on Twitter said that "The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to discontinue direct acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of donating."
On top of that, the non-profit organization is also shutting down its Bitpay account to prevent any future donations using crypto - in case they failed to get the memo that Wikimedia has already stopped accepting it.
Wikipedia and Crypto Donations
Meanwhile, according to a recent report by The Verge, the Wikimedia Foundation started accepting crypto donations in 2014 -- way back before digital tokens have become part of the mainstream world as it is these days.
Back then, the non-profit already started accepting the Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, even before these cryptocurrencies skyrocketed in value.
Wiki also expanded its supported digital tokens to other top cryptocurrency options, including Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ripple (XRP), and stablecoins like USDC.
The Verge noted in its story that the WikiMedia Foundation received a whopping $130,100.94 crypto donations in the last year or 2021 alone.
However, it is worth noting that it only makes up a tiny 0.08 percent of the total donations that Wikipedia has received from last year. Thus, whatever the crypto contributions are bringing to the table, it is only a small fraction of what the foundation actually receives.
Wikipedia Stops Crypto Donations: Here's Why
The decision to stop accepting crypto donations was made in response to a community vote.
The discussion of the 400 community members of the Wikipedia Foundation has ended up favoring the removal of crypto donations with 234 to 94 votes.
The internal talks have raised the common issues that critics of cryptocurrencies have been pointing out all along, such as its impact on the environment and risks of scams.
Not to mention that the non-profit foundation only pockets a significantly low percentage of donations from crypto.
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
After the voting concluded with a result favoring the move that goes against crypto contributions, the non-profit org started to have an internal discussion regarding the matter.
And as it turns out, the non-profit behind Wikipedia decided to stop directly accepting crypto contributions, citing the reasons raised by its community members.
