Twitter now allows users tip their favourite creators using Chipper tags

Micro-blogging platform, Twitter has announced a feature that allows users to tip their favourite creators on the website using Bitcoin. 

The social media giant on Thursday announced that its Tips feature, which will now roll out globally, will allow users to monetize their content on the platform as they can now post their Bitcoin wallet directly into their Twitter profile. 

“People will be able to add a Bitcoin lightning wallet or their bitcoin address to send and receive Bitcoin Tips beginning today,”

explained Esther Crawford, Twitter’s product lead for creator monetization

This new feature Twitter is rolling out will make it the first social media network to openly encourage the use of cryptocurrency as a method of payment. According to the company, this feature will not only allow users to connect their crypto wallets to their social profiles, but it will also authenticate the ownership of NFTs as they will tweet with a special badge.

The company first introduced tipping as a test feature back in May to experiment with a way to help creators earn from the content they post on Twitter. Users on iOS devices globally can now use this feature to send and receive digital payments. The feature will debut for Android users in the coming week.

Twitter knows Bitcoin and NFTs aren’t going away any time soon and has decided to embrace these options openly on its platform. This integration of Bitcoin into Twitter is hardly surprising considering that Twitter’s CEO and billionaire, Jack Dorsey, has also been a vocal advocate of bitcoin and has a digital payment service called Square. Square allows users to buy and sell bitcoin.

Tipping through Chipper

The social media company is not getting into the business of directly facilitating bitcoin Tip transactions, but rather doing that through a list of payment services available on its App.

Among the payment services currently integrated with this TIP feature is Chipper, an African fintech company that allows users on the African continent to invest in cryptocurrencies. It also facilitates instant money transfers and sending of airtime and data.

The company currently services seven African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The company does not take a cut from any money sent and promises to add some new services to the list shortly.

According to a Twitter blog post, in addition to the services currently enabled through Tips, users in El Salvador and the U.S, excluding residents of New York and Hawaii, can also send and receive Bitcoin Tips seamlessly using Strike, a Bitcoin wallet app that runs on the Lightning Network protocol. 

This tip feature is coming at a time the social media company is planning to launch a creator fund for users who host live audio events on Spaces. The company hopes that the creator fund will incentivize creators to host live audio events on Twitter. 

Besides blockchain, the company also announced that it plans to test new ways to help its users have a safer experience on the app. It plans to test features that warn people when entering into a “heated” conversation or allow them to leave tweet threads they no longer want to be part of.