December 25, 2025
Santa paid in Monero
Free Software Foundation receives historic private donations
FSF gets $900K in secret coin gifts — cheers, shade, and a tax fight
TLDR: FSF snagged about $900,000 in anonymous Monero gifts, one of its biggest private boosts. Commenters split between cheering the privacy-friendly move, blasting the sum as too small and calling out Big Tech to donate, and debating tax write-offs and whether secrecy protects independence — a holiday drama over who funds free software.
Santa came early to the Free Software Foundation: two anonymous donors just dropped about $900,000 in Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, making it one of the FSF’s largest private gifts ever. The group says it’ll supercharge their tech, campaigns, and licensing work, and help pivot the year-end push toward recruiting new members. Cue popcorn: the comments lit up.
The feel-good crowd went full stockings-and-sparkles — “Go FSF & GNU!” and “Force of Good!” — treating it as a win for digital rights like privacy, ownership, and the right to repair. But the grinchy counter-take arrived fast: one critic called $900K “pathetic” for an organization that underpins so much of the internet, name-dropping Amazon Web Services and demanding Big Tech finally pay up. Another commenter pulled in real-world drama, invoking high-profile donor scandals elsewhere to argue that anonymous gifts — especially in Monero — avoid influence and PR strings. Meanwhile, practical minds asked the unsexy question: can a truly anonymous crypto donation even be tax-deductible?
Between the confetti and the side-eye, the thread morphed into a holiday special about power, privacy, and who should fund the digital commons. Want to join or give the old-fashioned way? The FSF has details at fsf.org and donate.fsf.org.
Key Points
- •FSF received two anonymous Monero cryptocurrency donations totaling around $900,000.
- •The gifts are among the largest private contributions in FSF’s history.
- •FSF’s winter fundraising drive stands at 75% of its $400,000 goal; focus will shift to a member drive.
- •Funds will support technical infrastructure, campaigns, education, licensing, and advocacy.
- •FSF aims to add 100 associate members by January 16 and continues to accept year-end donations.