The rubygems treasurer who is on the board said funding was conditional on doing this[0][1].
One interesting thing is that Ruby Central then said "Board decisions are independent and not contingent on funding."[2].
Doesn't inspire a lot of trust when there is a statement from a board member saying "we did this because of funding".
I'm more inclined to believe Joel's account.
[0] A deadline (which as far as I understand, we agreed to) loomed. Either Ruby Central puts controls in place to ensure the safety and stability of the infrastructure we are responsible for, or lose the funding that we use to keep those things online and going.
[1] https://apiguy.substack.com/p/a-board-members-perspective-of...
[2] https://rubycentral.org/news/our-stewardship-where-we-are-wh...