Microsoft-owned Skype could soon allow users to transact with each other using Ripple’s XRP.

Skype, the voice and video chatting platform with over 300 million users, announced it is considering the integration of cryptocurrency micropayments into its application. This came in response to a post on the Skype Bulletin Board.

The proposal, which has garnered over 2300 votes, was regarding the implementation of micropayments in the application owing to the “era of Internet of Value.”

User David Olliver proposed that the community-developed tipping application known as XRP Tip Bot be implemented in the application through its open API.

The XRP Tip Bot’s history in enabling micropayments

The XRP Tip Bot is a tipping application created by XRP community member Wietse Wind. When it was first launched, it had support to send tips to users on Twitter and Reddit, with amounts up to five XRP.

Regardless of whether the receiver had a Tip Bot account or not, the balance would be maintained until he or she created an account to receive their XRP.

This caused a spike in microtransactions conducted using XRP and also drove the increased adoption of the coin among XRP Community Twitter users.

The utility was then expanded to be used on Discord, Telegram, and Microsoft Outlook courtesy of a third-party extension and is available in more than 40 languages. The utility was also a good fit for XRP, as the cryptocurrency has a transaction confirmation time of only four seconds.

This prompted XRP Community members to reach out to Skype, urging the company to integrate it into their application, which can be done easily through an open API.

A step towards adoption?

Skype has more than 300 million users and is an integral part of Microsoft’s corporate communication suite alongside Slack and Outlook.

Moreover, Microsoft has already shown an interest in cryptocurrencies, having been involved with Intercontinental Exchange’s Bitcoin futures product known as Bakkt.

It also has a service that is ripe for disruption by micropayments. Skype’s SkypeCredit system allows users to buy credits for international calls through the application. This includes mobile and telephone numbers on traditional networks.

XRP community increases micropayments awareness

The bulletin board post proposed that Skype allows users to buy SkypeCredits and send micropayments through Skype chat using the XRP Tip Bot:

“Dear Skype, The age of MicroPayments has come and we need your support. The era of Internet of Value is knocking at the door. My idea is to implement micropayments in Skype. Allow us to buy SkypeCredits with XRpTipBot, allow us to send micro payments on Skype chat as well.”

The poster also stated that he was a developer who was familiar with Microsoft products and had developed multiple tools for the XRP Ledger.

In response, a Community Manager from Skype, replied:

“Thanks for sharing this Idea! Cryptocurrency micropayments sound really cool.”

“Like any other leading technology company Microsoft is already testing blockchain. Although I don’t have any information about cryptocurrency adoption for Skype or any other MS product, please keep continue supporting this Idea. I will share it with our teams.”

The initiative picked up steam with the XRP community on Twitter, as more and more individuals clamoured for micropayments to be implemented on the chat application.

Financial assets rating agency Weiss Ratings also tweeted out that this movement was underway. It has also rated the currency highly in the past in its reports, stating reasons such as the currency’s settlement speed.

The XRP market reacts

The possibility of Skype integration has also caused a spike in the positive sentiment regarding the cryptocurrency.

The price of the coin has surged over the past 24 hours, and is currently trading at US$0.33.