this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
140 points (88.5% liked)
Technology
60033 readers
3130 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It has an optional built-in tipping function where you can tip users (and receive tips) if you like their posts. Just like reddit had. Pretty cool imo but not required to use the platform.
It is still rather cringe it is joined with Bitcoin at the hip, it even uses secpk1.
Edit: JFK man, https://lemmy.ml/post/11247396
Worth mentioning here that Lemmy itself accepts donations in Bitcoin directly and via OpenCollective. Many instances do as well. Bitcoin is free, federated, open source software and protocol for money, it kinda makes sense that there's some crossover there. https://join-lemmy.org/crypto
If you want a platform with built-in tipping, especially a federated, open-source one, you can't use PayPal, the fees make microtransactions impossible. Same with basically every other competitor out there. You either need to make your own payment processor (millions of dollars, massive yearly overhead, you have to handle dispute resolution, you need to forge independent relationships with Visa/MC/Amex/Plaid/etc, transactions all have different settlement times sometimes measured in weeks, it's an absolute bird's nest of problems. And that's just to do it for the US.). And each instance would have to have their own payment processor. It's a nightmare. Or, simple idea, you can just use some type of cryptocurrency.
You choice to avoid it is yours alone, but it seems like a weird thing to be mad about and avoid social networks on the basis of. Do you have such strong reactions to other assets like stocks? Or other currencies? Would you not use Facebook because users could use Turkish Lira on it to pay for extra photo storage? I don't love the Turkish government, but it seems like a weird place to draw a line in the sand over which social networks I'll use.
If you don't like the Bitcoin feature, you don't have to use it. Bitcoin has a market cap that puts it in the top 25 countries by GDP. Higher than Sweden. It's been doing its thing for 15 years. People may say they don't like it, but if you decide to not use any platform or service which accepts or uses Bitcoin, your circle of places you can use is going to continue to get smaller. Have fun not shopping at Safeway or any other major grocery store since they all have Bitcoin ATMs in the form of Coinstars. Have fun not using mutual funds or other investment portfolios from major banks or index funds since they all have a degree of exposure to Bitcoin. Have fun not using cash app or other major payment platforms which feature some kind of Bitcoin integration. Have fun not being able to use the DMV in colorado where you can renew your license with Bitcoin, and you won't be able to ride public transit in Argentina. Bitcoin is global and adoption grows year on year.
"Crypto" is full of scams and rug pulls and bad actors. But Bitcoin has kept its promises to faithfully relay transactions without a single hack or day of downtime for 15 years. They are not the same.