Twitter allows tipping with Bitcoin, plans to let users authenticate NFTs

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Twitter enables the ability to request Bitcoin tips through its app, making it the first major social network to encourage the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method. The company also plans to allow users to connect their crypto wallets and authenticate ownership of NFTs they tweet with a special badge.

Twitter has been testing tips for a few months now, but the company hasn’t made tips widely available until Thursday, when the feature rolls out worldwide on iOS with Android to follow. Besides Bitcoin, Twitter will allow users to connect nine traditional payment providers, including Venmo and Cash App, to their profiles to accept tips. Twitter does not process payments itself.

Bitcoin cheats are facilitated by Strike, a Bitcoin wallet app that runs on the Lightning Network protocol. Lightning is designed to enable faster and cheaper transactions using Bitcoin. The company behind it received funding from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, a staunch Bitcoin advocate who tweeted in June that it was only a matter of time before Twitter took over payments through the protocol.

Strike operates in all US states except New York and Hawaii, and the country of El Salvador. In addition to their Strike usernames, Twitter users will also be able to add their Bitcoin addresses to their profile, which people can then copy and paste into any crypto wallet of their choice to send tips.

How tipping with Bitcoin works on Twitter.Image: Twitter

The Twitters app will notify someone when they receive a Bitcoin tip via Strike, allowing them to quickly respond to the tipper to say thank you or send an emoji reaction. Twitter will also generate invoices for creators to track the tips they receive. Bitcoin represents one of the best solutions for enabling people to transact in underbanked regions of the world, Esther Crawford, Twitter product manager for creator monetization, said Thursday during a call with reporters. .

Bitcoin is not the scope of Twitter’s crypto plans: The company said it also plans to support authentication for NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, by allowing people to connect their crypto wallets. NFT authentication will come in the form of a badge, displayed on profile photos, marking NFT owners as genuine, a company spokesperson said.

NFTs have recently gained popularity as a way to buy and trade digital art on the Ethereum blockchain. A few months ago, the main Twitter account handed out minted NFTs in a market called Rarible.

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