Key Takeaways
- Wikimedia voters expressed overwhelming opposition to crypto donations in a vote that concluded this week.
- Considerations had been raised across the environmental influence of crypto mining and implicit help for crypto initiatives.
- Wikimedia has not mentioned whether or not it should finish crypto donations, however has mentioned that little or no of its income comes from crypto.
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Contributors to Wikimedia have overwhelmingly voted that the mission’s basis ought to cease accepting cryptocurrency.
71% of Voters Oppose Crypto Donation
Wikimedia may quickly finish help for cryptocurrency donations if its basis complies with the requests of its neighborhood.
One page on the positioning signifies that 71% of 326 voters expressed help for ending cryptocurrency donations.
These in favor of ending cryptocurrency donation expressed issues across the environmental influence of mining, in addition to issues across the implicit endorsement of cryptocurrencies.
Those that supported the continued acceptance of cryptocurrency argued that proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies demand little power. It was additionally mentioned that cryptocurrencies present “safer methods to donate and interact in finance for individuals in oppressive nations.”
The vote and request for feedback on crypto donations started on Jan. 10 and closed on Apr. 12. It befell roughly eight years after Wikimedia first started to just accept crypto in 2014.
The Wikimedia Basis has not made it clear whether or not it should adjust to the request. It did, nevertheless, say that cryptocurrency is a really minor a part of its funding. Final yr, it acquired $130,100 in crypto from 347 donors, making up simply 0.08% of its income.
Crypto Within the Open Tradition Motion
Wikimedia is an umbrella mission consisting of websites reminiscent of Wikipedia, Wiktionary, MediaWiki, and Wikinews.
Regardless of an absence of neighborhood help, Wikimedia’s founders have proven curiosity in crypto. In 2021, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales auctioned an NFT to lift funds for his different social media web site.
In the meantime, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger went on to discovered Everipedia, a blockchain-based encyclopedia forked from Wikipedia. Sanger later resigned as CTO of that mission in 2019.
Wikimedia shouldn’t be confused with the unrelated whistleblower web site Wikileaks. Along with common donations, that neighborhood raised $41 million of cryptocurrency for Julian Assange this yr.
Elsewhere within the open-culture motion, the Mozilla Basis has skilled backlash for accepting crypto donations. Final week, it announced that it might settle for proof-of-stake cash whereas rejecting mining-based cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Wikimedia Basis didn’t instantly reply to Crypto Briefing‘s request for remark.
Disclosure: On the time of writing, the creator of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and different cryptocurrencies.
