Bitcoin Forum

When some members create high-quality posts, merits are not enough, they should be supported by some tipping.
LN has made the tipping possible with zero-cost costs.
Some applications have started to adopt this method on Twitter [You Can Now Send Bitcoin Tips Over Lightning on Twitter (https://www.coindesk.com/you-can-now-send-bitcoin-tips-over-lightning-on-twitter)] and I would love to see this support officially in this forum.

There will be a balance for each user plus a little lightning bolt symbol next to each post, enabling the person to get some tipping using LN.


What do you think about this idea?

Let me know if I need to move this topic.

The forum will never hold users’ money.

People are free to open LN channels and send tips if they so choose.

Not agree with this idea. There is reason why I am not agree with tips, just visit this thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5106278.0). You can see there someone have made a post to donate something to ICOEthics for his work. Really he have done good job by exposing scammers and he deserve some donation as well. But you can se no one still sent any single sat or eth. So don't expect people's will use it.

Merit is enough, do you know how hard to earn a single merit ? It's not a best tips ? But it's true we need become more friendly to spend our smerit. Just don't hold it tight.

Right, I was just about to post that.


LN is probably unsuitable for tips since the recipient has to be online. That's why these LN tipbots all hold your money, which I'm not a fan of. If you're using LN through a trusted third party, then you're better off not using it at all.

I think its a good idea, worth trying out. Maybe you can employ something like the tippin.me service that is going to be used by Twitter. Yes, it is one of those 3rd party services you were just talking about, but the alternative is people setting up their own LN node, which would encourage people to experiment and learn on their own. Maybe there could be an on/off indicator so the sender knows if the person is online and ready to receive a tip.

Since most tips would probably be between 10 and 1000 satoshis, not exactly life-changing amounts, I think its a win/win either way, whether you go with 3rd party service or not.

While the idea would indeed give a boost to LN, I don't think that making a LN channel for 10-1000 satoshi would worth the hassle.
And if somebody wants to send more meaningful tips, a lot of users have a tipping address in their profile. And it's rarely used.
Yes, making it easier would increase the usage, but I don't expect wonders. And Theymos' option to not hold users' money is a pretty healthy one.

I've collected Pros, Cons and Other thoughts (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2269985.0) on Tipping micropayments on the forum a while ago. As much as I'd like to have the feature, I don't think there's much demand for it.

For small amounts, I wouldn't mind using and trusting a third party for low-cost transactions. Exchanges currently hold much more funds.