Welcome to Bloomberg Crypto, our twice-weekly look at Bitcoin, blockchain and more. If someone forwarded this to you, sign up here. In today’s edition, Emily Nicolle weighs in on Wikimedia’s digital dilemma:
Point of pain
The ethics of cryptocurrency are always under debate, but in one small corner of the internet, a community is making its opinions known.
A vote on whether to ask the Wikimedia Foundation to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations resoundingly passed on Tuesday, with more than 70% of votes by long-term community members cast in favor of halting the process. The issue of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s reliance on energy-intensive mechanisms – an often-referenced pain point for the crypto sector’s mission for mainstream acceptance – was top of their complaints, with many pointing to how this might conflict with the foundation behind Wikipedia’s own commitment to sustainability.
But in a more interesting twist than other non-profits which have chosen the same path, this proposal also raised the question of whether accepting tokenized gifts could cause the WMF reputational harm. Contributors said they were concerned that soliciting crypto donations signaled endorsement, with the proposal’s creator Molly White adding: “We risk damaging our reputation by participating in this.”
White, a software engineer and operator of the crypto-skeptic blog Web3 is going great, said some commentators in the discussion had suggested only accepting donations via proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, which require much less energy to mine and validate. Mozilla, a global non-profit which aims to protect internet freedoms, recently opted for this path after its founder criticized its involvement with crypto in January.
“The Wikimedia Foundation could decide to go that route, though I wouldn’t say it was a particularly popular proposal in the community discussion,” White said. “If they did that, it would be a step in the right direction, but I would see it as a weak attempt to placate the community while also trying not to anger crypto proponents.”
Some Serious WikiWatts
Bitcoin's energy usage has progressively worsened since Wikimedia began accepting crypto
Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
The impact of this proposal on the WMF’s cash pile will be minor at best. Around $130,000 in donations to the WMF were made using cryptocurrencies in the last financial year – around 0.08% of its revenue – with most coming through Bitcoin. The foundation isn’t a HODLer either, a staff member told contributors, saying all crypto donations are converted into fiat currency daily.
In fact, fewer donors opted to pay in crypto last year than community members who participated or voted on this proposal. So why was this an important stand for contributors to make, particularly on a platform best known for providing a neutral perspective?
“Wikipedia content strives for neutrality, in that we aim to reflect fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic,” said White. “But Wikimedia as a community and an organization is not ‘neutral’ in the political sense. All technology is political, and even just being a part of a community that builds, maintains, and defends such an important free knowledge project is an enormously political act.”
A spokesperson for the WMF said the community’s request is now under review, though whether it will act on it is yet to be determined. But after all, White pointed out, it was a similar request that led the WMF to start accepting Bitcoin in the first place.
Counting it out
- $280The highest bid at an auction this week for Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet as an NFT, which originally sold for $2.9 million last year.
Hearing them out
Jassy declared on CNBC Thursday that the e-commerce leader is no closer to offering crypto payment support
“We’re not probably close to adding crypto as a payment mechanism in our retail business, but I do believe over time that you’ll see crypto become bigger.''
Andy Jassy
Amazon.com President and Chief Executive Officer