The Wikimedia Foundation, the organization behind Wikipedia, has announced that it will no longer accept donations directly in cryptocurrency. 

The call to halt acceptances on cryptocurrency donations came after a long discussion with the Wikimedia Foundation community, where the majority voted to do away with crypto contributions, 234 to 94. According to the foundation, Wikimedia started accepting donations in crypto in 2014, “based on requests from our volunteers and donor communities. We are making this decision based on recent feedback from those same communities.”

Some factors in the arguments against cryptocurrencies were the environmental impacts of Bitcoin, possible scams, and the relatively low number of donations that were made via cryptocurrency, The Verge reports. In 2021, the foundation received donations of cryptocurrencies totaling $130,100.94, or around 0.08 percent of its revenue, making cryptocurrency one of the organization’s smallest revenue streams. 

“We will be closing our Bitpay account, which will remove our ability to directly accept cryptocurrency as a method of donating,” the Wikimedia Foundation said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor this issue, and appreciate the feedback and consideration given to this evolving matter by people across the Wikimedia movement. We will remain flexible and responsive to the needs of volunteers and donors. Thank you again to everyone that has provided valuable input on this increasingly complex and shifting topic.” 

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/Eoneren)