The Tip Jar

September 20, 2021 | 

The Tip Jar

Twitter launched a tipping feature on its platform on May 6, 2021. Twitter developers came up with the ‘Tip Jar’ to provide Twitter users a more accessible and more systematic way of financially supporting each other. With this new service, people can send and receive incentives through Twitter. At present, the Tip Jar option is available for Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, and Venmo.

Twitter is making a buzz in the cryptocurrency industry following rumors of the platform considering adding Bitcoin as one of its supported payment services.

The Tip Jar

If you are one of the 206 million Twitter users in the world, you may have regularly come upon tweets with thousands of likes, retweets, or hundreds of replies. These are the tweets that have gone viral. Twitter users usually take this as an opportunity to plug or introduce and publicize their works, small businesses, arts, etc. They include them on the thread so other people can easily see them just below the viral tweet.

There are times when these users also ask for monetary support, whether for hospital bills or their arts or sideline jobs. They tweet it together with their Paypal link, $Cashtag, or Venmo handle. As mentioned, the new feature, Tip Jar, makes this an easier-to-understand concept.

Twitter will not take any portion of tips that users receive through the platform. Tips can also be sent within Twitter’s live-audio chat feature called Spaces. People behind this idea said it was a stepping stone in creating new ways of showing support through monetary incentives on Twitter. Tip Jar was introduced so users can help each other beyond follows, retweets, and likes.

As of now, people who use Twitter in English are the only users who can send incentives. However, the social networking site intends to expand it to include more languages in the future. While only select creators, journalists, experts, and nonprofits can access the Tip Jar on their profile, more users will be capable of using it soon, according to Twitter.

Introducing Bitcoin Payment

The Tip Jar

On September 1, Italy-based developer Alessandro Paluzzi, also known for his frequent tech leaks, shared that Twitter was in the works to allow users to add their Bitcoin addresses to their profile so they can receive tips in cryptocurrency. Paluzzi tweeted screenshots of how Twitter’s new feature will look like after its launch. The caption says, “Twitter is working on the ability to receive tips in Bitcoin.”

The developer also showed how users would be notified about the capability to get incentives through the platform with the use of the Lightning Network.

Last June, Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey hinted that the microblogging network might integrate the Lightning Network. Developed by Lightning Labs, the Lightning Network is a layer above the Bitcoin blockchain that allows users to create their own channels for sending and receiving payments, thus allowing for faster and cheaper transactions. It was still unclear how it would work or what function it would serve on Twitter during that time. It was Paluzzi’s tech leak that gave some answers.

Dorsey is well-known for his cryptocurrency advocacy, and this is not the first time he has expressed interest in this new asset. Previously, he shared pictures of his computer running a program that validates Bitcoin transactions. He also auctioned his very first tweet as a nonfungible token (NFT) back in March. The tweet read, “just setting up my twttr,” which had a final bid of 2.9 million dollars. This move added to the maturity and prominence of the cryptocurrency market. As of writing, the prices for two of the largest cryptocurrencies are placed around 46, 137 dollars for Bitcoin and around 3, 475 dollars for Ethereum.

Aside from Twitter, Dorsey also heads Square, a company that acquired 8,000 BTC which now translates to around 300 million dollars.

Aside from Paluzzi’s shared information about the matter, one indicative sign of Twitter’s foreseen introduction of Bitcoin was its advertised job vacancies. The career opportunities included on its website are the Chief Compliance Officer for Payments and the Senior Legal Counsel-Payments Products. Both prefer candidates with experience in cryptocurrency.

Based on the job advertisement, the former will be working “with legal counsel, conduct analysis of laws, standards, and regulations which may apply or become applicable to Twitter’s products”, including cryptocurrency.

On the other hand, the latter notably stated that candidates with experience in “forms of payment, such as mobile carrier billing, cryptocurrency, and e-wallets, etc.” are preferred.

Enabling the Tip Jar

The Tip Jar function on Twitter is an excellent method for individuals, especially content creators and other public personalities, to create additional support outlets where people can send them money. It is not enabled by default, however. Users need to set it up to use it.

Here are the easy-to-follow steps on how you can enable the Tip Jar:

First, go to your profile. Look for the Edit profile button and click it. Tap the Tip Jar function at the bottom. Then, choose the services or platforms where you want to receive tips. Enter the needed information for the service you chose. It is important to note that an account for Paypal or Venmo is required here. Lastly, confirm your data.

Through these steps, the Tip Jar feature is effectively enabled. As of the moment, we still have to wait for Bitcoin’s official introduction as a payment option. But for now, you have the chance of receiving or sending incentives through the available payment method.

Cryptocurrency as Payment

We remain unsure of this rumor’s validity, but MacRumors shared that this service is indeed being evaluated to add a hint of hope. Also, back on July 2, Dorsey noted that Bitcoin would be a “big part of the company’s future.”

“I think this is a big part of our future. I think there’s a lot of innovation to be had, especially as we think about decentralizing social media more than providing more economic incentives. So I think it’s hugely important to Twitter and to Twitter shareholders that we continue to look at the space and invest aggressively in it,” he added.

These are the only pieces of information we currently have about Twitter’s plan of including Bitcoin as an option for sending or accepting tips. However, these are enough details to consider as a sign of the cryptocurrency’s growing importance as a mode of payment. It may also help anyone looking for information about cryptocurrency as an excellent alternative asset to invest in.