Reddit is getting ready to accept Bitcoin payments once again. Reddit CTO Christopher Slowe revealed the decision during an interview with Cheddar. The platform had ended support for Bitcoin payments in March 2018.
Bringing Back Bitcoin Support
According to Slowe, the online discussion and news aggregation platform is working to restore Bitcoin payments. The Reddit CTO also touched on the reasons for the initial decision to disable Bitcoin payment support.
Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange service, made changes to its API, switching from merchant tools to the new Coinbase Commerce platform. As a result, platforms that used Coinbase to process Bitcoin payments had to upgrade their systems. Slowe said the Reddit team was busy with its redesign at the time that Coinbase made the change. Thus, they weren’t able to implement the upgrade.
.@Reddit, which hosts communities for every single cryptocurrency in the world, is hoping to bring back crypto payments to the platform, this time with Ethereum and Litecoin in addition to Bitcoin, according to CTO @KeyserSosa. pic.twitter.com/wkUniMvhex
— Cheddar (@cheddar) May 2, 2018
At the time of the removal for Bitcoin support by Reddit, many surmised that it was due to the high transaction fees. After the removal back in March, an admin for the site wrote:
Yup, that’s right. The upcoming Coinbase change, combined with some bugs around the Bitcoin payment option that were affecting purchases for certain users, led us to remove Bitcoin as a payment option.
The decision was surprising given that Reddit is one of the prominent online crypto hubs. The platform began accepting Bitcoin payments in February 2013, becoming one of the first online services to do so. Users of the site could pay for a Gold membership subscription using the cryptocurrency. This subscription, which cost $30 per year, allowed users to disable ads and create custom avatars, as well as other features.
The website is a useful resource for the crypto community, hosting information on relevant industry happenings. The Bitcoin subreddit has 817k subscribers while the cryptocurrency subreddit has 663k subscribers.
Ethereum and Litecoin Payments Coming to Reddit
Reddit wants to add more cryptocurrency payment options besides Bitcoin. When asked whether the platform would consider other crypto payment options, Slowe said:
We have been looking at other cryptocurrencies. We are looking at Ethereum and Litecoin that are provided by Coinbase as well.
However, don’t get too excited yet. The social media platform has not given any concrete timeframe for when it will resume accepting Bitcoin payments. The migration of old merchants onto the new Coinbase Commerce platform continues till the end of May, so chances are more information will be released after that.
What do you think about Reddit restoring Bitcoin payments? What other cryptos apart from Litecoin and Ethereum should Reddit add to their crypto payment support? Let us know in the comments below.
Image courtesy of Twitter/@Cheddar and Bitcoinist archives.
