The Request Network Foundation announced on Apr 27, 2018, that they have entered an agreement with the US-based Wikimedia Foundation to enable the latter to accept cryptocurrency donations.
Request and Wikipedia
Wikimedia manages everybody’s beloved Wikipedia platform. The Request Network, meanwhile, is a payment request network powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Payment requests on the platform can be responded to using any global currency.
Additionally, not only are these requests are flexible, but they can also last “hundreds of years” in addition to offering compatibility with the Internet of Things (IoT) and other next-generation systems. Backed by Venture Capital giant Y Combinator, the Request Network is often referred to as the next-generation PayPal or PayPal 2.0 because of its flexibility, reliability, and versatility.
The partnership between the two organizations has made Wikimedia one of the largest entities in the world to be able to accept cryptocurrency in donations, claims the Request Media announcement.
“The Request Network Foundation and the Wikimedia Foundation share a philosophy about the power of decentralization. Using the decentralized financial tools built on top of the Request Network to raise donations, without the need of any central organization to process payments, is a huge step forward for The Wikimedia Foundation,” the announcement added.
“Next to being a success in decentralizing educational content, the Wikimedia Foundation is now able to decentralize their fundraising efforts.”
Being decentralized, transparent, and secure, blockchain has emerged as an ideal channel for donation management. For example, not only are charities able to receive a donation the moment it is granted, but the donor can also track how the donation was spent, thanks to the public ledger.
On top of that, crypto-donations guarantee that the intended recipient has direct access to the funds raised. Another decisive advantage over most other payment channels is that there is no significant lag between the time the recipient receives the fund and the time when they can use it.
Even though the Wikimedia Foundation is one of the most high-profile entities to have embraced digital currency donations, it is definitely not the trend starter on that front. A number of other charities have already walked that path including the likes of Fidelity Charitable that began the practice way back in 2015.
However, in the case of Wikimedia, the organization will accept any legitimate digital currency in circulation today (much unlike some charities such as “Pathway to Education” that only accept bitcoin and a select few popular altcoins).
Overall, the benefits of crypto-donations can be surmised into:
- Security and simplicity
- Trust and transparency in donations
- The ability to trace funds
- Reasonable transaction fees
- Relatively faster transactions
- Greater financial inclusion
The pilot for this partnership will be spearheaded by the France chapter of Wikimedia before it is extended to other units. Request Network earlier announced another blockchain partnership with PwC.
A New Payment Plugin
The organization has also simultaneously released a new payment plugin. Dubbed WooReq, the Request Network is hailing this as the first-ever decentralized payment plugin built for WooCommerce, which happens to be a very popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress users.
“Integrating Request Network with WooCommerce is a great way to promote wider blockchain adoption,” the announcement stated.
“WooCommerce is currently the most used eCommerce platform on the web. When looking at the entire internet on Built With, the current 2018 market share for WooCommerce is an impressive 42 percent of all eCommerce websites.”
The new plugin was developed by an active Request Network developer and is currently available for free.
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Author: BTCManager.com
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