Ethereum-based TipJar shuts down

TipJar, an Etherum-based micropayments platform pushed forward by Reddit, has announced that it will be shutting down its website in six months.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TipJarBot/comments/de818r/tipjar_shutdown_notice_please_withdraw_funds_asap/

TipJar was initially developed to allow Reddit users to easily send cryptocurrencies (mostly Ether and ERC-20 tokens) to each other.

Unfortunately, the company officially stopped its services on 7 October, and the TipJar website is expected to shut down in April next year.

For now, users still have the opportunity to withdraw any funds they might be storing with TipJar. The official Reddit notice urges them to withdraw as soon as possible so that they do not lose any of their assets. 

Ethereum-based micropayments

While Ethereum-based platforms of all kinds are gaining traction as the blockchain continuously develops, TipJar could not make it past several significant challenges. 

The main struggle TipJar faced was the fact that a very limited pool of users interacted with the platform. While the initial idea of the creators was to push the platform beyond Reddit, this never happened.

Consequently, the margin of profit was so insignificant that TipJar was forced to announce its shutting down its micropayment services. 

Unfortunately, a global trend is surfacing, revealing that micropayment platforms are not popular enough with social media users. Because of this lack of interest, many such platforms remain unsustainable, and cannot secure a profit, which forces them to shut down. 

A recent example of another failed micropayment service is Coinexchange, which announced it would stop providing services by the beginning of December 2019. 

Hopefully, more users will show interest in such services in the future, as Ethereum-based platforms become better, and start offering more capabilities. 

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