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

[MZMcBride]

Tomasz W. Kozlowski wrote:
>Andrew Bogott wrote:
>> So, we have a problem, and then we have an already-implemented
>> solution... what is left for anyone to do but dust off their hands and
>> go to lunch?  If Bitpay has already solved the exact problem that we're
>> discussion, why would the foundation spend a nickel duplicating their
>>work?
>
>There are, I believe, several problem with that solution: (1) Bitpay
>seems to have created that merchant account without ever discussing this
>with the Foundation, (2) the account is not owned by the Foundation, and
>the Foundation does not have any influence over it at the moment, (3)
>given choice, the Foundation might have decided to use the services of
>their competitor (for whatever reasons).

Re: http://blog.bitpay.com/2012/11/donate-to-wikipedia-with-bitcoin.html

I'm not sure I'm following all of this correctly. I thought the idea was
that BitPay would exchange Bitcoins for USDs and then donate the USDs to
the Wikimedia Foundation. Why would that require the Wikimedia Foundation
being in control of whatever account is used to transfer the funds? Isn't
the merchant account simply a means of transferring USDs? I'm lost. :-(

I think Andrew makes a compelling argument, though it's difficult to be
sure when the implementation details are not entirely clear.

MZMcBride