Cody McGrath 
After a 3-month debate on the benefits and drawbacks of cryptocurrencies, Wikipedia has decided to stop accepting Ethereum and Bitcoin donations after 8 years.
The announcement comes shortly after the Wikimedia Foundation, the parent organization of Wikipedia, held a poll in which more than 70% of respondents expressed a desire to halt all cryptocurrency payments.
Why Wikipedia made this decision
The decision was taken in response to a community request that the WMF discontinue accepting cryptocurrency donations, which culminated in a three-month-long discussion earlier this month.
In 2014, the Wikimedia Foundation began taking Bitcoin. It was argued at the time that including Bitcoin as a contribution option would make donating to the Wikimedia Foundation “as straightforward and inclusive as feasible.” Wikipedia has always placed a strong focus on being a worldwide platform, with information available in 326 languages.
The nonprofit first accepted Bitcoin donations through Coinbase before moving to BitPay to accept donations in other cryptocurrencies.
However, previous to the prohibition, Wikipedia’s exposure to cryptocurrency was minimal. Only 347 distinct contributors sent bitcoin to the Wikimedia Foundation in 2021. Crypto contributions accounted for only 0.08% of the Wikimedia Organization’s revenue last year, according to Community Relations Specialist Julia Brungs, and the foundation has never “held cryptocurrencies.”
“Bitcoin was the most widely utilized cryptocurrency in the previous fiscal year. Brungs noted in January, “We have never kept cryptocurrency and daily spot-convert donations into fiat cash (USD), which has no substantial environmental impact.”
When the argument about crypto contributions first erupted in January, software engineer and Wikipedia editor Molly White remarked that just 400 people were involved.
However, many of the accounts looked to be “single-purpose accounts made solely for the conversation” in order to persuade the foundation against crypto, according to White.
“Issues of environmental sustainability,” according to the paper, are a primary reason against bitcoin. Avalanche, Tezos, Solana, and Cardano, for example, are more energy-efficient blockchains that do not require proof-of-work mining.
Those in support of crypto contributions pointed to the necessity for anonymous payments in countries where Wikipedia is prohibited or banned. It was also suggested that because Bitcoin is legal cash in El Salvador and the Central African Republic, the foundation should allow donors to give in their respective countries’ official currencies.