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In the first week of January, the Mozilla software community said it was suspending the acceptance of cryptocurrency donations, citing environmental concerns. 14 weeks later, last week, Mozilla decided that it would again accept cryptocurrency donations, but only from digital assets that use the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus model.
Mozilla plans to only accept crypto-assets with PoS, the CEO says that cryptocurrencies with PoW “significantly increase our greenhouse gas footprint.”
On April 7, Mark Surman, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, released an update that the software community has suspended accepting cryptocurrency donations. According to Surman, it was after Mozilla published its commitment to protect the climate and after complaints from Mozilla employees and supporters that the foundation decided to suspend cryptocurrency donations. Mozilla decided to take a closer look at the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies, and Surman’s blog reports on the findings.
“Starting today, we are updating our donation policy,” Surman 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 present a list of cryptocurrencies we accept by the end of the second quarter of 2022,” the Mozilla Foundation executive added.
Surman clarified that the decision is largely based on the organization’s climate commitments, which aim to “exceed the zero-emissions commitments of the Paris Climate Agreement.” The Mozilla Foundation believes that proof-of-work (PoW) digital assets “significantly increase our greenhouse gas emissions.” In stopping PoW cryptocurrencies, Surman stressed that this decision remains “consistent” with Mozilla’s emissions commitments.
“In our climate commitment, we also promised to help develop, design and improve products from a sustainability perspective,” the Mozilla executive concluded. “We believe Mozilla can play a positive role in the industry by encouraging those cryptocurrencies we adopt to be transparent about their energy consumption patterns.”
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
