Cryptotipping is not a new concept in the blockchain world.
In fact, it’s been around ever since cryptocurrencies like Ethereum were first created, with multiple communities across various platforms enjoying tipping each other for a good content or some kind of services.
The act itself has changed meaning over the course of the last few years or so as it turned into something like a payment option rather than an expression of gratitude. This can be seen with Twitch, which is the world’s largest streaming platform. Spectators there can tip their favourite streamers with cryptocurrencies, but at one point it had been removed.
Now it has spiralled into other social media platforms as well, such as Reddit. The website has a reward system where community members can purchase specific rewards through real money by converting them into Reddit Tokens. This was then used to give several OPs (Original Posters) for their content on the website.
These could have been funny Internet memes, pictures with depth, or just some kind of post that was very useful. In most cases, these rewards were given in communities such as “r/LegalAdvice” and “r/RelationshipAdvice”.
If it’s not already clear, Reddit is divided into subreddits that focus on different topics.
Cryptotipping on its way out
The first case where crypto tipping was simply removed from the platform was Twitch. The company noted that keeping the option wasn’t really worth it as it wasn’t being used at a degree that they were expecting.
In fact, it was being so ignored that keeping the project alive was starting to cost the platforms unnecessary losses.
However, following an outcry of the community, it was reintroduced and is now one of the most popular ways to tip streamers.
The most recent platform to remove crypto tipping was Reddit. It happened on the 7th of October, when Tipjar, the plugin used for tipping, announced that it will be shutting down due to low involvement.
Larger projects still alive
Despite the doom and gloom that has been coming out of the communities that lost crypto tipping in recent years, several platforms have started to introduce crypto tipping but with a slightly different twist.
For example, the activity has been growing on iGaming platforms where the companies offer additional educational guides or some kind of “secret features” in exchange for a small crypto tip.
One such example was with the GunsBet operator that had introduced the option for providing useful information.
The tip was exactly that, a tip. Players would have to give maybe $0.05 worth of their tokens to gain access to this information where the strategies and the rules of playing on the platform were explained.
Although it was met with a little bit of criticism from the beginning, since such content should be freely available to everyone involved, it kind of introduced a whole new concept of monetising content.
We’ve seen things such as subscriptions with large news outlets, right? As well as a paywall behind certain articles. This was an attempt to give the content a “VIP status” meaning that it would only be accessible to a certain community.
This was exactly the strategy behind GunsBet’s new promotion, which in the end was still successful. All of the tips accumulated through the content distribution were given to the authors themselves, which further encouraged players to “unlock” these articles.
Later down the line, it turned into an additional feature for accessing secret games and promotions.
Will this be a new form of conducting business?
The act of crypto tipping in itself is designed to recognise the product or service provided by an individual and not a company. This is why it was so popular on both Twitch and Reddit.
Should companies start monetising these features, they need to make absolutely sure that the community is aware of where these funds are going. And 100% of the cases it should be in the wallets of those who created the content in the first place.
Crypto is a very decentralised and individual-oriented medium of exchange, as long as it remains as such on these platforms, crypto tipping will continue to exist no matter how small the volume may be.
