During the first week of January, the software community
Mozilla revealed it was pausing cryptocurrency donations after citing
environmental concerns. 14 weeks later, Mozilla decided last week it
will accept crypto donations again, but only from digital assets that
leverage a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.
During the first week of January, the software community
Mozilla revealed it was pausing cryptocurrency donations after citing
environmental concerns. 14 weeks later, Mozilla decided last week it
will accept crypto donations again, but only from digital assets that
leverage a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.
Mozilla Plans to Accept PoS Crypto Assets Only, Executive Says PoW Cryptos ‘Significantly Increase Our GHG Footprint’
On April 7, Mark Surman, the executive director at the Mozilla Foundation, published an update
about the software community pausing crypto donations. Surman said that
it was after Mozilla released its climate commitments, and after
Mozilla staff and supporters complained, that the foundation decided to
pause crypto donations. Mozilla decided to review the environmental
impact of cryptocurrencies more closely, and Surman’s blog post reports
back on the results of Mozilla’s review.
“Starting today, we are updating our donation policy,” Surman’s
update explains. “Mozilla will no longer accept ‘proof-of-work’
cryptocurrencies, which are more energy-intensive. Mozilla will accept
‘proof-of-stake’ cryptocurrencies, which are less energy-intensive.
Mozilla will develop and share a list of cryptocurrencies we accept by
the end of Q2 2022,” the Mozilla Foundation executive director added.
Surman detailed that the decision is mainly based on the
organization’s climate commitments that aim to “exceed the net-zero
emissions commitment of the Paris Climate Agreement.” The Mozilla
Foundation believes that proof-of-work (PoW) digital assets
“significantly increase our GHG footprint.” By stopping the acceptance
of PoW cryptos, Surman stressed that the decision remains “aligned” with
Mozilla’s emissions commitment.
“In our climate commitments, we also promised to help develop,
design, and improve products from a sustainability perspective,”
Mozilla’s executive director concluded. “We believe that Mozilla can
play a positive role in the industry by encouraging those
cryptocurrencies that we do accept to be transparent about their energy
consumption patterns.”
