The nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the free encyclopedia Wikipedia, has refused to donate in cryptocurrencies. The decision was made after three months of discussion with the community.

The Wikimedia Foundation has decided to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations. The decision was based on a community request that WMF no longer accept crypto donations, which emerged from a quarterly debate that ended earlier this month. pic.twitter.com/RHAD0FRA5W

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) May 1, 2022

“[…] In particular, we will close the BitPay account, which will prevent us from directly accepting cryptocurrencies as a donation method,” wrote Lisa Seitz-Gruwell, the organization’s chief development officer.

Wikipedia has been accepting bitcoin donations since 2014. Transfers to Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum are also possible – all digital assets received are instantly converted to fiat.

The survey on greater acceptance of cryptocurrency donations was conducted from January 10 to April 12, 2022. 426 people participated, of which 71.7% were in favor of rejection. As arguments, they called for support for the risky nature of cryptocurrencies in terms of investment and non-compliance with ESG standards.

One community member described the Wikimedia Foundation’s decision as “shameful”:

“Especially the last argument put forward in favor of this RFCturned out to be completely reactionary.

Earlier, a group of US congressmen expressed concerns about the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm. They called on the Environmental Protection Agency to review the mining industry for environmental risks and compliance with applicable laws.

In February 2022, New York gubernatorial candidate Juman Williams urged current state officials to ban the mining of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the Proof-of-Work algorithm.

Recall that in January, the Mozilla Foundation announced that it was suspending donations in cryptocurrencies after a discussion about their impact on the environment.