Jimmy Wales Takes Bitcoin for a Test Drive, Comes Back ‘Cautious’

Jimmy Wales Takes Bitcoin for a Ride, Comes Back Cautious

Last month, Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s co-founder, announced on twitter that he was “playing with Bitcoin” and had bought 0.1 BTC through Coinbase. This caused an influx of happy responses from Bitcoin users. On reddit post, Jimmy Wales asked the Bitcoin community how Bitcoin could be incorporated for donations on Wikimedia.

Jimmy Wales Takes Bitcoin for a Test Drive

On a reddit post, Jimmy Wales wrote,

“I’ve been watching bitcoin for a long time, of course, and I thought it past due to test it as a consumer – how hard is it, how confusing is it, etc.”

All of the donations he received through his pubic address were donated to the Wikimedia Foundation. Jimmy Wales had a couple of questions about the mechanics behind Bitcoin, but the community was ready with answers.

At the end of the discussion on reddit, it was made clear that the final decision on implementing Bitcoin in Wikimedia would depend of the Board of Directors. Jimmy Wales could perhaps influence the Board’s decision; however, he cannot make it for them. He wrote,

“I’ll be raising this with the board, but of course it isn’t up to me alone.”

Jimmy Wales Comes Back “Cautious”

After an entire month of playing with Bitcoin, it seemed prudent for someone to ask Jimmy Wales what the Board’s stance on the digital currency is. In a twitter conversation with an individual, Jimmy Wales wrote that the matter was being discussed with the Board, but there hasn’t been a concise decision as of yet. Jimmy Wales tweeted,

“Staff are looking into lightweight implementation and will make recommendation to board as I understand it. We are cautious. :)”

It is quite understandable to be cautious with Bitcoin especially if one is a huge business like Wikimedia. However, having Bitcoin for donations would probably help Wikimedia gain further support for their endeavors. In addition, it would also help Bitcoin’s status and value rise since having Wikimedia’s support or backing would be a huge event. Either ways it would be a win-win situation on both ends.

Image Source