Social network Twitter could be closer than it has led on to integrate the Bitcoin lightning network for micropayments. Per a report by news website MacRumors, the platform is currently testing it for the operating system iOS Beta.
The purpose of the integration is to enable a new payment option for users to reward content creators via the recently launched feature “Tip Jar”. The payment option with Bitcoin, the report claims, is yet to be enabled.
However, people have found code within the app that “suggest Twitter is in the process of rolling it out”, MacRumors claimed.
Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi usually shares updates on new features to be implemented on major platforms, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter. Paluzzi reversed engineered the app and found the image below.
Upon launch, users will be introduced to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, its second-layer payment solution that allows people to send and receive “faster payments” at cheaper costs than its base layer.
In addition, Paluzzi found that Twitter will use Strike to generate its Bitcoin Lightning invoices. The platform will require users to “connect their (Strike) accounts” to start using the feature.
#Twitter is working on the ability to receive tips in #Bitcoin 👀 pic.twitter.com/uycD3qsR5F
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) September 1, 2021
Strike only operates in the U.S. and El Salvador Dorsey. However, Bernard Parah, the CEO and founder of Bitcoin-based saving app Bitnob, noted that in other parts of the world, such as Africa, people can’t access Strike.
Thus, he congratulated Twitter on its efforts to integrate Lightning Tips and offered help to help expand the access to the feature.
In response, and possibly confirming Paluzzi’s founding, the CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey said that the company will “definitely” seek African partners to grow accessibility to the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
Jack Dorsey Keeps Betting Big On Bitcoin
The CEO of Twitter and Square is leading a number of Bitcoin-based initiatives to increase BTC adoption and to make it much easier for people to interact with this cryptocurrency.
A couple of months ago, Dorsey announced plans to build create a Bitcoin-only hardware wallet, and recently he provided more details on Square’s attempts to create a decentralized BTC exchange.
In 2021, the Bitcoin Lightning Network’s capacity has gone parabolic. If the rumors that the social media giant will implement in its platform are confirmed, this second layer solution could grow even further, as analyst Philip Swift said:
If the rumours are true that Twitter is soon to offer micropayments on the platform via bitcoin Lightning Network, then expect this chart to go even more parabolic!
As Bitcoinist reported, experts believe that the Lightning Network could be Bitcoin’s “beachhead” into the mainstream. In other words, a way to increase its adoption by users that need it for a specific use case, such as receiving payment for their content, remittance, and others.
In any case, Dorsey made it very clear that Bitcoin will be “deeply integrated into Twitter”. The company plans for BTC to be the main focus on some of its new features, Spaces, and Super Followers.
This could help the platform to “drive both engagement and monetization”, the CEO said in their latest earnings report. Dorsey added:
I think this is a big part of our future. I think there’s a lot of innovation above just currency to be had, especially as we think about decentralizing social media more and providing more economic incentive. So I think it’s hugely important to Twitter and to Twitter shareholders that we continue to look at the space and invest aggressively in it.
At the time of writing, BTC trades at $47,512 with a minor profit in the daily chart.
