Tippin is a Chrome and Firefox browser extension that enables tipping on Twitter by adding a tip button on every single tweet. All tips are made using Bitcoin through the Lightning Network: instant transactions, even of a few cents with almost zero fee.

Furthermore, this is the first really interesting use case of the Lightning Network, the second layer solution implemented last year to scale Bitcoin.

Simple and effective

Not only the Twitter experience completely changes but it also open limitless future scenarios: an internet where, thanks to this extension/s, you can tip people on all socials (it can be for a tweet, for an article, for a video, for a comment, etc.), thus creating a new way to raise money by content creators without the need of a central agency and without the need of creating a new social platform and economic system from scratch!

Tippin is a personal project of Sergio Abril, still in the development phase but already functional. Thanks to this extension users can now see a new button for tips placed in every tweet.

How to receive tips

Every user that want to enable the possibility of receiving tips just has to login in the tippin.me web-app with his twitter account.

Once this is done a custodial wallet to receive and manage Bitcoins through Lightning Network will be generated and people will be able to tip you.

Furthermore you could also use the web button that Tippin generates for you and paste it in your blog or website. This way you could receive tips anywhere.

How to tip

In order to tip someone you need to use the Lightning Network and to use the Lightning Network you need a Lightning Wallet. I use Eclair, is a very good and open-source wallet.

A demo of tiping with Eclair wallet.

Once you downloaded the wallet and once you deposited some bitcoins in it (5$ will be okay) you will need to create a channel in order to make lightning transactions.

Open a direct channel with tippin.me! Press on the lightning symbol (⚡) and after that press “create a channel with us”. Scan the QR code in Eclair app and it’s done: now you can tip whoever you want.

A brilliant idea

Instead of creating new social networks with their own economic system, token, blockchain, etc. (e.g.: steemit) you can directly use the already existing social networks just by installing a simple browser extension that adds a button.

All we need is… a button!

A button that opens the doors to a new way for users of interacting with social networks and for a new way of monetization for content creators that doesn’t involve other external or internal services that always takes some profit from their earnings.

A button. Same interface, same habits: you get people used to this thing. And Twitter is just the beginning. Tippin can easily be integrated in platforms like Medium or YouTube.

And all of this with Bitcoin.