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Tipping Platform Patreon ‘Exploring Bitcoin Integration’

Patreon tip-donation jar
Online tipping and funding platform Patreon is planning to accept bitcoin “hopefully soon”, allowing fans to make regular micropayments to their favorite online artists.Founded in 2013, Patreon has to date raised more than $2m in seed funding, and is one of a host of recent startups looking to help content creators recoup revenue otherwise lost to online middlemen like YouTube.The announcement comes courtesy of an email the company sent to reddit user ‘camponez‘, who wrote Patreon to enquire about bitcoin integration, and received the following reply:“Thanks so much for your note! We are actually exploring bitcoin integration right now.”“Be sure to follow us on Twitter @patreon because we will be making the announcement of when it is live on there!”Patreon co-founder, musician Jack Conte, confirmed the message in a reply to the thread:“It’s true, we’ve been talking about bitcoin for months. my co-founder, Sam, already built most of the code, but it’s not pushed yet. We’re fixing some bugs and tweaking. don’t know when it will happen. hopefully soon.”How Patreon worksPatreon is different to other project-funding sites like Kickstarter, focusing instead on creators who release a stream of smaller, regular works. Rather than raise a large sum of money for one big project, Patreon allows donors to set up payments closer to $1-10 to be paid out whenever their favorite artist or creator releases a new work; such as a YouTube video, podcast, web comic or even a news article.Patrons have full control over the regularity and size of their payments, with monthly maximums. The system also allows creators to set rewards and perks for their patrons, such as tutorials, Google Hangouts or concert tickets.Conte demonstrates how the system works in a video here, which also shows he gets over $4,000 in tips for every video he releases from his 1,200+ ‘patrons’.Bitcoin advantageTo use Patreon either as a Creator or a Patron, you need to sign up for an account (or use a Facebook login). Currently, Patrons must have either a credit card or a PayPal account, limiting the number of potential tippers.Of course, any artist with a web presence can simply publish a bitcoin address or QR code image to collect 100% of all tips. But, this is better for one-off payments, since it requires a benefactor to actually visit the site and enter each tip manually.With Patreon, payments can happen regularly and automatically without the need for a special visit.Tip jar image via Shutterstockdonationsmicropaymentspatreon
Original author: Jon Southurst