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There is a new product sweeping the crypto industry.

Tippin.me was created by Sergio Abril to allow Twitter users to quickly “tip” each other in Bitcoin for being helpful, sharing great content, or just generally expressing appreciation. The product is currently available through Google Chrome and Firefox extensions, but Sergio is planning to expand to other platforms in the near future.

The beauty of Tippin.me is how simple it is. A user downloads the extension, sign ins with their Twitter username & password, and can immediately start sending or receiving satoshis (smallest unit of account in Bitcoin). The barriers of the legacy financial system are removed, along with cross-border transaction complexity.

Users aren’t sending hundreds or thousands of dollars to each other however. They are sending a few pennies worth of Bitcoin at a time. Imagine trying to send $0.05 through any traditional means? It would be really difficult and the transaction fees would cost more than the amount being sent.

As we have seen many times in the crypto industry, word spreads quickly once a volunteer (Sergio) builds a cool product or service. Tippin.me has been no different. Once the product was launched, a few initial users tested it out, the “virality of sending money” started to accelerate adoption, and eventually large Twitter accounts like Jack Dorsey & Erik Vorhees signed up and started tweeting about it.

You can sign up in seconds by clicking here: https://tippin.me/

I am fully aware that many people will roll their eyes at the idea of tippin.me being an important, and potentially world-changing, idea. It is fun. Playful. Easy to dismiss as a game. But remember, many great products start out as small experiments that appear to be small ideas at first.

Tippin.me has created a way for anyone in the world to quickly send micro-transactions to anyone else in a matter of seconds. The use cases for something like this are nearly impossible to understand in the beginning. Here are a few ideas of how this could be used moving forward:

1. Send tips to content creators or influencers — Entire businesses can be built off a product like this. It allows community leaders to monetize in a more efficient and authentic way, while also sidestepping the high fees and censorship risks presented by legacy products. Think of this like Patreon for Bitcoin.

2. Streaming payments — The product is fairly elementary at the moment but it wouldn’t be a stretch to see someone incorporate the “pay-as-you-go” model on top of Tippin.me. As we have discussed previously, this is one of the ideas I’m most excited about in crypto, but it is largely unexplored to date.

3. Commerce — One of the most popular arguments of Bitcoin detractors is that transactions are slow and expensive. They love to say “you could never buy a coffee with it!” With Tippin.me, a retailer could set up an account and have consumers send them small dollar amounts in exchange for goods and services. The settlement times are lightning fast (pun intended) and fees are almost non-existent.

4. P2P transactions — I’m writing today’s newsletter from Mexico City. Last night at dinner with a few investors, the idea that Venmo (and other popular US p2p applications) doesn’t work in Mexico came up. With Tippin, users would be able to send Bitcoin back and forth without the reliance on Venmo and other platforms to support their country.

There are a bunch of other ways that Tippin could evolve or be leveraged by users, but you get the point. The most exciting aspect of the product in my opinion is that it is built on top of the Lightning Network. We are seeing an impressive adoption of the Layer 2 scaling solution and I anticipate more developers will build on top of it in 2019.

The legacy banking system has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to build the infrastructure for a physical world separated by nation state borders. The internet is a single nation with no borders, therefore we need a separate set of infrastructure to facilite this borderless, digital financial system.

The Lightning Network is laying the foundation and applications like Tippin.me are pushing adoption. We are still so early in the development of this new financial system though.

I can’t wait to see what entrepreneurs come up with next.

-Pomp

The “Off The Chain” podcast has been downloaded 600,000+ times in 160 countries. You can listen to the latest episode with Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance here: Click here for Off The Chain podcast

THE RUNDOWN:

Bitcoin Will Hit $1 Million, Says IBM’s VP of Blockchain Jesse Lund: The vice president of blockchain and digital currencies for IBM, Jesse Lund, said that he expects Bitcoin’s price to eventually hit $1 million. Lund made his prediction during an interview with comparison and news platform Finder.com. Towards the end of the interview, Lund was asked what he expects the price of Bitcoin to be on this new year’s eve. He answered that he thinks it is going to be higher than the current price, clarifying, “I’ll go with $5,000.” He then continued his prediction, adding: “I see Bitcoin at a million dollars someday.” Read more.

Busting Myths About Cryptocurrency Custody: Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong weighs in on the myths around cryptocurrency. In a Fortune column, he writes, “I’ve noticed some inaccuracies popping up lately regarding how people are thinking about cryptocurrency custody and storage solutions. The discussion usually centers on ‘hot’ versus ‘cold’—meaning, online versus offline—storage of private keys, which are the private codes that allow you to transfer crypto assets. Let’s address these misconceptions, one by one.” Read more.

Pantera Has Already Raised $125 Million for Its Third Crypto Fund: Crypto-focused venture firm Pantera Capital has secured the bulk of its new $175 million fund ahead of an expected March closing, CoinDesk has learned. According to a slide deck obtained by CoinDesk, $125 million is currently committed to the fund, which will be the firm’s third. However, only $25 million has been secured since last August, when Pantera told CNBC that $100 million had already been raised. “We’re in a bear market and fundraising has slowed for the entire industry, whether you’re an entrepreneur or a fund,” Pantera partner Paul Veradittikit told CoinDesk. He said Pantera’s initial fundraising had come from high net-worth individuals, family offices and others that could money move quickly. Read more.

Digital Asset’s Europe Head Is Latest to Leave Enterprise Blockchain Startup: The upheaval continues at enterprise blockchain company Digital Asset, with the news that Gavin Wells will step down from his role as head of Europe next month. Oliver Hugh-Jones, head of business development for Europe, will assume all of Wells’ client-facing responsibilities. Wells’ departure was reported earlier by Risk, a financial industry publication. “I joined Digital Asset to learn about the technology, but I stayed because of the people I met there,” Wells told the magazine. Read more.

Brazilian Bank Aims to Raise $15 Million Through Security Token Offering: A Brazilian investment bank is planning to raise millions of dollars through the offering of a security token. Banco BTG Pactual said it will back its blockchain-based token with distressed Brazilian real estate assets, with the expectation of raising up to $15 million. It will also establish a secondary market following the sale in order to provide liquidity to the tokens. The offering will allow investors to invest in the Brazilian real estate market and, based on the performance of the tied assets, receive periodic profits. International investors will be able to purchase the token, called ReitBZ (RBZ), through a “low-cost, tax-efficient structure,” said the bank. Read more.

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Nothing in this email is intended to serve as financial advice. Do your own research.