[Wikimedia-l] Let's accept Bitcoin as a donation method

[Tomasz W. Kozlowski]

Hi!
I'm sure that the WMF fundraising people are all aware of this, but this 
isn't exactly a well-known issue, so please excuse this short introduction.

For a few months now, there has been quite a strong push from the 
Bitcoin community to accept that currency as a donation method; the 
issue has been gaining more and more significance ever since the start 
of this years' fundraising campaign.

As far as I am aware, the only response so far from the Foundation is 
that they do not accept any currencies that are not backed by "by the 
full faith and credit of an issuing government." [1]

I'm sure those reading this list can Google the topic themselves, so I 
won't link to the many angry discussion that are taking place on the 
interwebs right now; instead, I'll ask this: does the Foundation intend 
to accept Bitcoin as a donation method any time soon? Does the 
Foundation realize that the payment processing company Bitpay has kindly 
set up a merchant account that is transferring money to the WMF every 
day? [2]

Can you let us know the reasons behind the decision of not accepting 
Bitcoin other than those mentioned on the FAQ page I linked? I'm not in 
any way related to the Bitcoin movement, but I'm sure that many people 
would appreciate hearing more about this.

I should also perhaps mention for those interested in donating in 
Bitcoin that Wikimedia New York City, the chapter for NYC, does accept 
Bitcoins: <https://nyc.wikimedia.org/wiki/Donate>.

Maybe there are other chapters or affiliates that allow this method of 
donating?

           Tomasz

== References ==
* [1] 
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/FAQ/en#Why_does_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_not_currently_accept_Bitcoin.3F
* [2] http://blog.bitpay.com/2012/11/donate-to-wikipedia-with-bitcoin.html