Ada has finally reached the tipping point, or soon could if Clark Alesna has anything to say about the matter. As word spreads rapidly about the emergence of another ‘world changing’ blockchain (Cardano), an influx of users look to enter the ecosystem, and grasp a better understanding of its technology. As more adoption occurs, more use cases and integration occurs. It’s cyclical. One function which could prove to have a significant amount of utility is the desire to tip in Cardano’s native asset, Ada.
Who is Clark Alesna?
Clark Alesna, a software engineer with over 10 years experience, is the operator of ADAPH stake pool looking to secure Catalyst funding for his Fund 4 proposals. The plan is to develop a browser extension that will facilitate the ability to tip ADA (or any other native tokens) on the Cardano network with ease.
Alesna has made some solid contributions thus far to the Cardano community. Alesna contributed to the Yoroi wallet browser extension by coding the wallet UI theme functionality. He pushed for safe disclosure of the cardano-cli Ryzen exploit and returned 12k worth of ADA to the rightful owner who was short changed due to the exploit. Alesna is the lead developer of ADALotto and ADAPH stake pool operator.
Rewarding Content Creators
We’re all familiar with the digital piracy laced culture of the early 2000’s. Although far from eradicated, there’s increasing demand and recognition that online artists and creators should actually be rewarded for their hard work. Sadly, we’ve been operating for too long under a selfish and misguided notion. That art should remain somehow detached from the capitalist nature of modern society. Yet the last time I checked, artists must eat and pay bills just like the rest of us.
The idea of tipping using crypto currency is nothing new in itself. ‘Micro-tipping’ as it’s referred to in the industry, first came about with the launch of Change Tip, formed in 2014 by Nick Sullivan. This was a centralised platform that allowed people to tip Bitcoin across social media channels, such as Facebook, Reddit and Twitter. The notion immediately tapped into the consciousness of the Bitcoin community, where it was hailed as a means of bringing BTC adoption to the masses. However, just months after being acquired by Airbnb in 2016 it was discontinued, for reasons undisclosed. Zapchain (also centralised) was another early crypto tipping platform which shut down in 2015, shortly after signing a contract with Coinbase. It’s ultimately believed that the complex operational nature of these platforms is what led to their downfall, as they required both content creator and tipper to have an account with the company in question. This is an off putting factor for many users, as the centralised aspect involves the surrender of personal information, amongst other issues.
A Reddit based platform by the name of Tip Jar also closed its doors in 2020. The Ethereum (and overall ERC20 token) oriented venture fell apart due to its lack of users, and yes, you guessed it, extortionate Ethereum service fees, seemingly included purely to run the company into the ground. Yet, while these attempts to create a world in which artists are easily rewarded for their endeavours failed, there is still a demand for such services. In fact many are still in operation, including Tipperbot, Chaintip and Gitgash, (all Bitcoin Cash oriented).
Will Cardano Get it Right?
‘Tip ADA’ works by users downloading the open sourced extension and linking it to their social media accounts of choice. They will then simply associate the said social media account with an ADA wallet address, and off they go. Whereas others have failed due to their outdated centralised nature, ‘Tip ADA’ intends on keeping up with overarching Cardano theme of decentralisation, at least to as large a degree as possible. This is achievable by utilizing the Cardano meta data and open sourcing the back end API (Application Programming Interface) server.
To picture it simply, imagine that you’re a content creator. A tipping button will be added to your social media page, once clicked, a QR code and wallet address will be generated, allowing the generous and potentially mysterious benefactor to reward you for your creation. This will happen within minutes, via means of their Yoroi or Daedalus wallet. With the extension always keeping track, records of these tips will be displayed across social media posts, incentivising other users to do the same.
Note the ADA symbol on the below Tweet. This is how it will appear across the different social media channels.
With this being a Cardano oriented operation, the possibilities are endless. A user interface where the tipper chooses which native token or NFT (non fungible token) they wish to donate can also be integrated, all completed outside of the manipulative realm of centralisation. At no stage will Tip ADA have possession of, or even the possibility of control over the money of its users.
The Beauty of Forward Planning
It would appear that Alesna has considered everything when planning his proposal. In the event that the content creator does not have the extension installed/linked, the browser extension can automatically contact them, informing them that somebody wishes to tip them. Next they will be gently guided through the onboarding process of setting up a wallet, ultimately inspiring and attracting new users. The foundational code of this proposal will initially operate on Reddit and Twitter alone, with the inbuilt flexibility to expand at a later date (after the initial base code is completed). There are even plans to create Tip ADA governance tokens (TADA). Holders of these would essentially become the steering committee, deciding how the extension will evolve.
The Service Charge to Tip in ADA
Alesna is requesting $50,000 to set up his proposal. He will initially be the core developer (working at a rate of $60 per hour) and aims to hire a second (at a similar rate), along with a UI/UX designer who will direct the interface towards being as smooth and appealing a system as possible, (we should expect nothing less from a Cardano based enterprise). The rest of the budget will go towards server and designer costs. This entire project is estimated to take between one and two months to complete, which isn’t a long time to wait for an open sourced venture that promises to deliver so much to this ever expanding community.
In a world where online content creation is replacing the archaic, and soul destroying monotony of the standard nine to five job, it’s only right that those who give us so much are rewarded with equal fervour.
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