After internal discussions, Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation have decided to accept donations in cryptocurrencies no longer. In a note published by the foundation, Wikipedia said that it would no longer accept payments through Bitpay after taking into account feedback from its community. “The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to discontinue direct acceptance of cryptocurrency as a donation.”
“We started our direct acceptance of cryptocurrency in 2014 based on the requests of our volunteers and donor communities. We are making this decision based on recent feedback from those same communities. In particular, we will close our Bitpay account, which will eliminate our ability to accept cryptocurrency as a donation method directly.”
The organization added that it will “continue to monitor this issue” as it is an “evolving issue” and that it “will remain flexible and responsive to the needs of volunteers and donors.” The decision comes shortly after publisher Molly White wrote a proposal calling cryptocurrencies “hazardous investments” and that their energy consumption goes against the organization’s commitments to sustainability. The issue was subsequently put to the vote, in which the community voted heavily in favor of removing cryptocurrencies as a donation option.
New rules for the market have also recently arrived for influencers.
