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

[Erik Moeller]

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 8:38 PM, Matthew Walker <mwalker at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> It is a significant undertaking to integrate a new gateway with our current
> code (think several man months of time related to coding, code review,
> donor services preparation, and testing; not including contract negotiation
> and legal review.)

That makes perfect sense, Matt. It's easy to forget that because BTC
is so novel, none of the existing payment gateways we have implemented
support it, so comparing to existing currencies is really misleading.
So you're left with either the DIY approach the Internet Archive is
taking [1], or the technical effort of properly integrating something
like Bitpay.

> The bitcoin community should be aware that their persistent and often times
> aggressive, rude, and vulgar messaging towards me and my fellow coworkers
> is not appreciated;

Indeed. Unfortunately the incentive structure of Bitcoin's bubble
economy turns ordinary people into obnoxious hucksters.

Erik

[1] Srsly! Just one example:
http://blog.archive.org/2013/03/05/bitcoin-to-cash-converter-box/


-- 
Erik Möller
VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation