Social content sharing website Reddit may integrate Bitcoin P2P payments, allowing users to make send money between each other for tipping or making purchases.
Reddit was already no stranger to the ins and outs of cryptocurrency. Just last month (December) the site announced plans to develop its own digital currency which would be given away to users as a reward and as a ‘celebration’ of its users’ contribution towards the success of the site.
Added to that, there is also the fact that the site’s /r/bitcoin board has become one of the most popular destinations for Bitcoin users and enthusiasts to get together and share the latest news and opinions.
Ryan Charles, the cryptocurrency engineer hired by Reddit to lead that initiative, has now revealed the development of a ‘proof of concept’ for the integration of Bitcoin into the Reddit website. As revealed on this thread in the /r/Reddit board, the integration would allow users to include a Bitcoin address within their profile, top it up with coins if they choose, and then to P2P payments between each other through the website.
Many people already use Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, on Reddit – and there are a huge number of potential uses waiting to be tapped. At its heart the site is a place share and vote on fun and interesting content, so tip bots have become a popular way for users to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ and reward each other for great posts with small so-called ‘micropayments’.
Moving beyond this, however, the integration of a payments system into a site like Reddit opens up a huge potential for classified listings and peer to peer marketplace functions. Many users are already calling for features like escrow to be built-in too, in order to support this kind of use. For now, however, there has been no indication that Reddit has such detailed plans laid out, and Charles has made it clear that the launch of any potential integration is a long way off.
Image Credit: Reddit (See link in article)
