By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 24th, 2024
You will be able to tip bitcoin in the near future on Twitter. This privilege will soon be available to everyone around the globe.
Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) is to partner with Strike and integrate Strike API to make it happen. The service will be a first for a major social media platform to provide a payment feature on its platform. This announcement was made after the company successfully tested the feature for a whole month. Tips will be first available for Apple iOS users this week while their Android users will enjoy the service in the coming weeks.
The very idea of using bitcoin as a payment means on Twitter may appear insignificant for Bitcoiners however, several crypto bulls have highlighted how the feature will be significant and useful on Twitter, a social media platform run by Jack Dorsey. Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s CEO, had shared Jack Mallers, Strike’s founder, tweet who was at the time suggesting that there was a possibility of bitcoin being tipped on Twitter as remittance payment.
In his office based in Chicago, Mallers sent Bitcoin, via the Twitter tipping feature, to a recipient who he claimed was in El Salvador, a country that recently adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender. In his own words and while making the Bitcoin remittance, Mallers was quoted saying that he was in Chicago and they had David who was at Starbucks in El Salvador. He added that David had linked his Stripes account to Twitter and that he, Mallers, was about to make a free instant Bitcoin remittance to David over Twitter. After the $10 Bitcoin was successfully remitted to David via Twitter, Mallers exclaimed “Boom! we just successfully made a free instant Bitcoin remittance via Twitter”.
Mallers was also quoted asking why would anyone continue making cash remittances through Western Union. He noted that the combination of one of the largest social networks and an open monetary network provides Twitter users with an opportunity to enjoy remittance experience never seen before. At the ending of the video, Mallers referenced a popular chess move “Western Union, Kings, pawn to E4, your move”. Western Union’s shareholders however didn’t appear to be affected, evidenced by a 1.2% rise in Western Union’s stock.
Strike noted that its mission is to make the world more financially connected by improving the usability of Bitcoin and Lightning network.
Benefits of Strike
Strike further added that their API merchants and businesses offer free instantaneous payments to anyone around the globe and at any time. While concluding the announcement, the company said that they were taking a big stride forward in improving interoperability with Bitcoin. The company added that with the rolling out of this service, they’re continuing to move the world to Bitcoin, a singular monetary standard. The innovation is set to make global payments and remmitances faster and cheaper.