Wikipedia Community Calls For Ban On Crypto Donations, Cites Environmental Concerns

Over 200 Wikipedia editors and community members have requested the Wikimedia Foundation to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations and argued that Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, which run on a proof-of-stake system, consume too much energy.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which handles and oversees funding for the multilingual online encyclopedia Wikipedia, discovered through its three-month poll that most of its community members do not like donations made in cryptocurrencies. The poll, which ran from Jan. 10 to April 12, asked the community if the platform should stop accepting cryptocurrency donations.

Of the 326 users who participated, 71.17 percent or 232 voted yes, which according to Wikipedia administrator Vermont, "indicate overall community support, with a significant minority in opposition." As a result, "the Wikimedia community requests that the Wikimedia Foundation stop accepting cryptocurrency donations," the site steward added.

Among common arguments raised by the 71 percent include "environmental sustainability issues, that accepting cryptocurrencies constitutes an implicit endorsement of the issues surrounding cryptocurrencies and community issues with the risk to the movement’s reputation for accepting cryptocurrencies."

Participants who wanted the site to accept cryptocurrency donations argued: "the existence of less energy-intensive cryptocurrencies (proof-of-stake ), that cryptocurrencies provide safer ways to donate and engage in finance for people in oppressive countries, and that fiat currencies also have issues with environmental sustainability."

The Wikimedia Foundation started accepting Bitcoin in 2014 and received $140,000 in the first week. In the latest fiscal year, the foundation received $130,000 worth of crypto donations, which is less than 0.1 percent of its total revenue, amounting to around $150 million in 2021.

The Wikimedia Foundation uses BitPay to process cryptocurrency donations and as of April 14, the link on its website is still active. The poll began after White, a long-time Wikipedia editor with the username GorillaWarfare, submitted a petition to end cryptocurrency donations in January.

"Cryptocurrencies are extremely risky investments that have only been gaining popularity among retail investors, particularly in recent times, and I do not think we should be endorsing their use in this way. In accepting them, I believe we are mainstreaming the usage of "investments" and technology that are inherently predatory," White said.

Bitcoin, the number one cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, was trading up 2.81 percent at $41,327.79, with a 24-hour volume trading down 6.92 percent at $27,623,787,733. Ethereum, on the other hand, was trading up 1.50 percent at $3,111.70 with a 24-hour volume trading down 19.16 percent at $15,775,495,385. Both market prices are based on the data from coinMarketCap as of 2:12 a.m. ET on April 14.