Decentralized 'Twitter Killer' App Teases New Crypto Tipping Feature Days After Getting Banned In China

Damus, the decentralized social software app dubbed as "Twitter killer," has announced that a new crypto tipping feature would soon drop on the platform. This comes a few days after the app was banned in China.

The official Twitter account of Damus shared that users will soon earn "sats" directly on their posts, a feature that many Twitter users have long been requesting from the developers of the social media platform.

Sats is short for Satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, which was named after the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. One Bitcoin is equivalent to 100 million Satoshis.

Unfortunately, the announcement did not come with a definitive release date for the feature, just the assurance that it is "coming soon in the next version."

Damus is Nostr's leading implementation and it was previously reported that the team has already integrated built-in payments on the app through Bitcoin's Lightning Network, which helps users send and receive Bitcoin faster with lower gas fees.

The developers are reportedly working on further integration of the Bitcoin network on the app.

The tipping feature on social media platforms is popular, especially among content creators. On Twitter, tips have enabled content creators and developers to receive incentives in a smooth and fast way.

The micro-blogging site even has a Dogecoin tipping bot, but it was suspended on the platform earlier this month for allegedly violating "platform manipulation and spam rule."

The Dogecoin tipping issue remains unresolved as of Tuesday.

Following the launch on Feb. 1 and the overwhelming number of downloads of more than 45,000 in China, the "Twitter killer" Damus became the second-most popular social network in the Southeast Asian country.

But this success was short-lived since the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) immediately removed the app from the China App Store.

According to the agency, the Damus app features content that is illegal in China and violates the country's "provisions of the security assessment of internet-based information services with an attribute or public opinion or capable of social mobilization."

"We are writing to notify you that your application, per demand from the CAC (Cyberspace Administration of China), will be removed from the China App Store because it includes content that is illegal in China, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines," the notice to Damus read.

The ban prohibits users in mainland China from downloading and accessing the Damus mobile app.