Twitter expands payment options for Tips, adds Ethereum

Twitter announced a major expansion to the sources users can choose when sending Tips to creators on its service. 

The site's Tips feature was introduced early in 2021, and has been available to all users 18 years of age or older since 2022. It allows a fan to click on the Tips icon within a user's profile to send them funds in the amount of their choosing. 

Twitter calls the option a way for users to "show support, show appreciation, help out or reward anyone you want -- from emerging creators and journalists to Twitter Spaces hosts and more."

Previously the function supported several third-party payment services, but it was limited to either traditional credit card payments or Bitcoin. Now, Twitter is adding support for three additional third-party payment processors: Paga, Barter by Flutterwave, and Paytm.

Now it's also providing the option for users who receive tips to add their Ethereum address -- meaning other users will be able to send funds directly to the their digital wallets via this cryptocurrency. 

Twitter's initial support for Bitcoin was predictable, given former CEO Jack Dorsey's longtime support of that particular digital currency. Now that Dorsey has moved on to other projects and new CEO Parag Agrawal is in control, the social networking service may be exploring competing altcoins like Ethereum for the first time. 

This change also makes it easier for Twitter users in a slew of new countries to support their favorite creators, thanks to the list of never-before-supported nations that now have the ability to contribute via the trio of new payment platforms.