The final announcement follows a Wikimedia community vote in which 71% voted in favor of a proposal to stop accepting cryptocurrencies.

The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that manages Wikipedia and other wikis, has decided to stop receiving donations in digital assets after a three-month discussion in which the environmental impact of Bitcoin was the most significant subject.

The resolution arrived due to a community vote on a proposal for the creation led by the developer and collaborator Molly White. They discussed that receiving donations in assets such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ether represents a supportive stance on digital currencies.

These currencies are “inherently predatory” as investments and do not follow the foundation’s commitment to work toward environmental sustainability.

The Wikimedia Foundation decided to stop receiving donations in cryptocurrencies. The resolution happened due to a community request that WMF no longer accepts donations made in crypto, stemming from a three-month-long debate.

The proposal eliminates new accounts and users that did not meet its registration procedure; fewer than 400 users voted, 232 to 94, or 71.17%, supported no longer receiving digital assets.

It is worth considering that this decision is not final. Wikimedia has left the door open to the possibility of resuming crypto acceptance, saying it will continue to study the current panorama.

The Arguments that Support this Decision

White argued that Wikipedia risked harming its reputation by receiving donations in digital assets due to the decision earlier in the year by Mozilla, its nonprofit peer, to stop accepting donations in digital assets.

Wikimedia received Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ether through BitPay. White highlighted Bitcoin and Ether’s need for vast amounts of energy while noting that other “greener” currencies exist, though they get less used.

Miners employing vast amounts of computing power to consolidate transactions via Proof of Work, PoW, received hard critics for damaging the environment. However, these miners have been looking for more friendly energy sources for their mining activities. However, the criticism still strikes over the miners; the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, also backed down on Bitcoin payments last year, highlighting the same reasons.

Ethereum has been working hard to consolidate a transition to a “Proof of Stake” model for ensuring transactions, which uses less energy, though the switch has faced various delays.

Responses to the Decision

Many tweeters responded to Molly White’s tweet, expressing their negative stance on the measure. For his part, tweeter Danny Scott, CEO of the CoinCorner exchange, ironically, wrote congratulating on getting out of the most inclusive monetary system ever and sustaining that everyone always comes back to Bitcoin.

Others, on the other hand, considered the decision a positive move. For example, Twitter user David, who works to help the homeless, highlighted that their nonprofit organization stopped receiving the currency quickly after considering the moral implications of playing a vital role in the crypto environment.

By: Jenson Nuñez

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