Argentinean social network platform Taringa has seen creative content generation rise by an average of 40 to 50% after users joined its new bitcoin tipping initiative.
The programme, ‘Taringa Creadores’, combines an ad-revenue sharing model with the social network’s unique ranking system in a bid to incentivise the sharing of user generated content.
Content creators registered to Taringa’s bitcoin tipping scheme receive a Xapo wallet and a share of advertising distributed in bitcoin by Taringa. Users can tip each other in bitcoin, as every creator receives 10 daily points to distribute among other users. When distributed, these points are issued out in digital currency.
The initiative is still in beta stage, with 2,000 invite-only users constituting the platform’s top content creators taking part at this stage. Speaking about the decision to implement bitcoin tipping, Taringa co-founder Hernán Botbol told CoinDesk:
“We have always wanted to give our users a economic reward because we think its fair. We want more and more people to post on Taringa and for these people to eventually be able to leave their jobs and dedicate their time exclusively to posting on Taringa.”
Bitcoin’s viability
Botbol said that his team had explored various payout options, all of which would required users to hold a bank account.
“We always came up against the same problem; most people in the region do not have a bank account, they don’t have a debit card and money transfers are generally expensive,” he said.
Plans to reward users were ultimately shelved until the team was approached by good friend and fellow Argentinean entrepreneur Wences Casares, founder and CEO of bitcoin services provider Xapo.
Botbol said of the growing partnership that followed:
“We realised it was possible to connect both his [Casares’] mission, which is to spread bitcoin’s adoption and for it to become a popular payment method and our wish to establish a revenue share scheme to reward our users.”
Development push
Botbol framed the process today as one that is laying the foundations for a more in-depth user ecosystem.
“Eventually we will have a lot of people who will have funds in their Xapo wallet and who will immediately be able to access games, streaming accounts, etc,” he explained.
User demand for such development, Botbol added, is fueling these efforts. Botbol said that many of the first publications that surfaced following the Xapo integration and the subsequent launch of ‘Taringa Creadores’ evidenced users’ interest in bitcoin donations.
“We are looking into implementing a donation button that would enable users with bitcoin to donate directly from Taringa,” said Botbol.
Bitcoin education
Botbol said that Taringa’s advantageous position in the Argentinian market – it is credited with having 26 million users – will help drive bitcoin’s adoption in the country.
He said of these efforts:
“We are working to ensure that bitcoin becomes simple, we want the integration [with Xapo] to be user friendly and we are working to communicate what bitcoin really is to our users and we really think that Taringa’s community has achieved a better understanding.”
Botbol added that Taringa hopes to have as many as one million bitcoin wallets by 2016. To get there, he said, will involve a social push that will enable more online purchasing by consumers.
“If bitcoin is going to ever reach mainstream adoption, it will do so in Argentina,” he concluded.
Hernán Botbol is speaking at Consensus 2015 in New York. Join him at the TimesCenter on 10th September. A list of the event speakers can be found here.