Many of Twitter’s new features are curious at best, but one that seems to be slowly gaining steam is the “tip” function on the platform that allows people to directly pay their favorite tweeters. And now those tips can be very bad for the environment as well.
Twitter announced on Thursday that users 18 and older can now tip using Bitcoin if they’re using iOS. It’s the latest way you can pay others on the platform using a now-long list of sources, as the Hollywood Reporter detailed:
The social media platform began testing its Tips feature earlier this year with a select group of users, and payments could be processed via Bandcamp, Cash App, Chipper, Patreon, Razorpay, Wealthsimple, Venmo or GoFundMe, depending on the user’s choice. With Thursday’s updates, U.S. users will also get to use Strike, a payment app built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network that lets users send and receive Bitcoin.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is, of course, a big fan of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin in general. He’s invested in various crypto projects personally and says we’re destined to be a Bitcoin-only global economy. He also appeared in a tie dye shirt at a Bitcoin conference in Miami on January, only to get heckled by now-coronavirus-riddled Trump fan Laura Loomer.
So this pairing here certainly makes sense, and the also-Dorsey-led Square bought $50 million in Bitcoin last year and is working with the cryptocurrency as well. So Dorsey is certainly doing his part to make its adaption more of a reality. Jack’s apparently already raking in the coin on Twitter, too.
Sent my first #lightning tip on Twitter.
#bitcoin pic.twitter.com/koHeE0ZEQ5
— Erin Malone (@ErinEMalone) September 23, 2021
We’ll see if Bitcoin will take over the world, as predicted. But if you want to get some for yourself one of the easier ways right now seems to be being good at Twitter.
[via THR]