Following a suggestion from users too Stop accepting crypto donations The nonprofit confirmed to the Wikimedia Foundation that it would continue with crypto donations.
The contributors came together to urge the foundation to disable the option to donate in crypto due to environmental concerns. Although the organization will continually monitor conversations about crypto within its communities, it will not budge from accepting crypto donations.
Elise Flick of the Wikimedia team told Cointelegraph that Wikimedia’s approach to fundraising is to meet donors where they are. Flick mentioned that the foundation aims to “provide the most desirable payment options in different parts of the world.” This includes fulfilling the requests the foundation has received from donors asking to donate in cryptocurrency.
“We want to be as inclusive as possible and allow people to engage in whatever way they feel most comfortable.”
So did Julia Brungs, Senior Community Relations Specialist at the Wikimedia Foundation answered to Molly White’s (GorillaWarfare) questions in the original proposal. According to Brungs, the most commonly used crypto for donations was bitcoin (Bitcoin). However, the organization immediately converts it to fiat. “We have never held cryptocurrency and convert donations to fiat currency (USD) per spot daily with no significant environmental impact,” Brungs wrote.
The response also cited data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index says that there is very little evidence directly linking Bitcoin 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 currently remains marginal at best.”
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Meanwhile, not all organizations are willing to continue with crypto donations after receiving feedback from the anti-crypto community. Earlier this January, Mozilla suspended accepting crypto donations after receiving a reaction from a co-founder. Because of this decision, the Dogecoin Creator Slammed Mozilla to say, “Thank you for succumbing to an ignorant, reactionary internet mob.”
