The Mozilla Foundation is pausing accepting donations in cryptocurrency following a backlash from scores of people including a founder of the Mozilla Project.
The foundation, which oversees the development of Firefox browser, on Thursday acknowledged conversations around the environment impact that cryptocurrency potentially pose and said it is reviewing whether its current policy on crypto donations “fits with our climate goals.”
“Decentralized web technology continues to be an important area for us to explore, but a lot has changed since we started accepting crypto donations,” the foundation said, adding that will be forthcoming with sharing regular updates from the review.
The foundation started to face backlash following a tweet late last year that invited people to donate via using a variety of crypto tokens including Bitcoin.
In response to it, Jamie Zawinski expressed dismay at the foundation’s move. “Everyone involved in the project should be witheringly ashamed of this decision to partner with planet-incinerating Ponzi grifters,” he said, adding an expletive.
Peter Linss, the founder of Gecko, the engine that powered the browser, joined the conversation in telling Mozilla that it was “meant to be better than this.”
This isn’t the first time a major firm has faced backlash — or distanced itself from Bitcoin — because of environmental concerns. In May last year, Tesla suspended accepting bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, just months after introducing the option.
Musk said the firm was “concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal.” Weeks later, he said the company will “most likely” accept Bitcoin again once the mining rate for the cryptocurrency reaches 50% renewables.
This is a developing story. More to follow…
techcrunch.com
