Tipping System
A New Way to Support Journalism
The tipping system is a new way for readers to show their appreciation for articles and reward authors for their work. Tips can be made in fiat tokens or cryptoassets, and are stored in a smart contract on the blockchain until the article is judged and given a score. The score given by the judging panel will determine what percentage of these tips the Content Contributor will receive.
Advances in payments technology, specifically in the area of blockchain technology will render such a system possible by enabling low-cost peer-to-peer payments. Payments via intermediaries involve a lot of friction as those intermediaries are tasked with being anti-money-laundering policemen. All transactions, regardless of size, must be KYC'd. Further, on account of this regulatory overhead, micropayments simply aren't economical for them to process. With the advent of blockchain technology however, tipping someone on the internet will be as simple as liking a post now. And the transactions fees for tipping someone 25c will be fractions of a cent. This opens up the possibility of much moving away from advertising and subsriptions and towards a tipping-based revenue model.
By tying tips to market performance however, authors are still incentivised to choose accuracy over populism. Tips to an article that aren't paid to a Content Contributor on account of the article's score, are paid into the Olas Global Pool and will be used to fund other work.
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