The Tor Project announced a new fundraising push this week, launching a Web3 crowdfunding campaign that accepts cryptocurrency and uses quadratic funding to allocate donations. The effort is aimed at supporting the organization's anti-censorship tools as governments around the world tighten internet controls.
How the campaign works
The campaign is built on a decentralized platform, letting donors contribute in several cryptocurrencies. Quadratic funding means smaller donations from many people carry more weight than a few large ones — a design meant to capture broad community support rather than rely on a handful of wealthy backers. Tor's own wallet address is listed on the campaign page, and contributions are tracked on-chain.
Why now
Internet restrictions are on the rise. According to Tor's announcement, more countries are blocking access to privacy tools and encrypted communication. The organization says its software — the Tor Browser and the underlying onion routing network — is needed more than ever. But funding has always been a challenge for a nonprofit that relies on grants and donations. This campaign is an attempt to diversify revenue streams and tap into the crypto-native donor base.
Quadratic funding explained
Quadratic funding isn't new to the crypto world — Gitcoin has used it for years to allocate grants to open-source projects. The formula matches small donations with a central pool, so a project that gets a thousand $1 donations receives more matching funds than one with a single $1,000 gift. Tor's campaign applies that same logic to its own fundraising, letting the community decide which anti-censorship initiatives get the biggest boost.
A shift for Tor
This isn't the first time Tor has accepted crypto donations — the organization has taken Bitcoin and other coins for years. But the move to a structured Web3 campaign with quadratic mechanics marks a shift. It positions Tor closer to the decentralized web ethos it often advocates for. The campaign also comes with an interactive dashboard showing real-time contribution totals and matching pool distribution.
Contributions are open now. Tor hasn't set a hard end date, but the matching pool is capped at a fixed amount — once that's reached, the quadratic formula stops. The organization says it will publish a transparency report after the campaign closes.
