There is no doubt that Bitcoin has the potential to significantly alter how we interact, especially online. Micropayment or tipping happens to be one of the services built around the cryptocurrency that promise to do this.

As a matter of fact, there is so much interest in online tipping that startups in the space have continued to raise significant capital from different ventures. Flattr, a Sweden-based tipping company, received about $1.8 million in 2011 and was among the first to catch the eye of the investors. Others have come after it.

After leading a seed round for ChangeTip in December 2014, which saw the micropayment startup receive $3.5 million, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead, expressed optimism in the tipping solution.

“Tipping is likely to be bitcoin’s first killer app – seamlessly integrated into social media, enabling people to send money in a free, fun, instantaneous way without borders or minimums. This could have a huge impact on bitcoin adoption,” he told Coindesk.

You can receive tips, and redeem them

ChangeTip has gone ahead to become the most successful service provider in the space to date. Currently, users can receive and give a tip on almost all the most popular social networking sites such as twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Reddit. It is also available on less used ones such as Github, WordPress, Tumblr, Disqus and Slack.

As from August 2015, ChangeTip users can turn Bitcoin tips into Gift cards on Gyft.com, which they can redeem in hundreds of shops and stores both online and offline including Amazon and Starbuck and iTunes.

Announcing this addition to their service, ChangeTip’s community manager Victoria van Eyk said, “We are doing this because it’s important for people to use their tips. If you receive a coffee, claim the coffee.”

Even traditional Bitcoin exchanges such as Coinbase want a slice of the tipping business. After starting, giving up on its own tipping service and directing its users to ChangeTip, Coinbase seems to be still harboring plans to relaunch a similar service in the future, or at least profit from the technology in some ways.

The company just made nine patent applications to the US Patent and Trademark Office, and one of them is the tipping button.

Why does online tipping matter, anyway?

Giving a few bucks of a tip to a waiter in a restaurant, as appreciation to their service, is something we do almost without thinking. Indeed, tips form a large portion of the waiters’ income in many cities and towns around the world.

Now think of what that culture brought online will do. Of course, it is not like appreciating the effort of others online is a new concept. We are always clicking the like button below Facebook posts we find interesting, double tapping on pictures we admire on Instagram and upvoting comments we agree with on Reddit.

However, if you tipped someone with a few cents instead of, or alongside, that like, double tap or upvote, you would have motivated them to create even better content the next time they do it.

It is accurate to state that the need for tipping has always been there. However, proper facilitation for it has been lacking; up until Bitcoin came along.

But why is Bitcoin best suited for online tipping and not dollars or sterling pounds?

The main reason why bitcoin is perfect for tipping online is that its design allows for micropayments. The cryptocurrency is divisible to very small amounts-less than a penny, which can also be sent and received over the internet from one part of the world to the other. Even more important, the cost to do this is almost negligible.

How will tipping change the internet?

The option of tips for content creators will make it possible to provide content without commercial interests coming in the way. In other words, tips could replace advertisement hence having content creators with only consumers to worry about, in the absence of advertisers. This will also take away the shouting ad banners thus making web pages less distractive.

But perhaps the most important benefit of online tipping will be making interactions between people online more meaningful and valuable. Indeed, with a fluid, fast and easy flow of micropayments online the real social experience on the internet will be felt.