Hey everyone,
Looking back at the original post above, I realized it reads like a rather sterile pitch. I thought I would update on where things stand, and more importantly, provide a better explanation of what we’re actually building and why.
Honest Status
30 creators have registered. The product is functional: registration, creator dashboard, real-time notifications, encrypted messaging, all of it works. We’re pre-traction. The product works, but the distribution doesn’t yet.
Part of fixing that is getting the messaging right. Firstly, we’re not building a more private Ko-fi. We’re building creator payment tools on infrastructure that is exponentially better, leveraging the true PMFs of cryptocurrency and applying it to user-facing products. Privacy is the headline feature; it’s why most people would look twice, but the underlying advantages run much deeper.
Efficient micropayments, actual self-custody, zero platform capture. That’s the thesis.
With ZODL, Near Intents, Tachyon, and the undeniable upcoming wave of adoption of digital rails for payments, we believe we find ourselves in the right time, at the right place, for user-facing privacy products.
Tipping is the entry point because it’s the simplest creator payment to implement. One sender, one receiver, one transaction. But the goal is a full suite of creator tools, each one leveraging the same set of underlying advantages:
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Tipping (live now): micro-tips from any token, shielded delivery, zero fees
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Subscriptions: recurring shielded payments. Patreon without the 5-12% cut or your income being visible to the platform
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Embeddable Widgets: drop a tip or pay button on any website or blog
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Invoices: freelancer billing. Send a payment request, the client pays with any token, and you receive shielded ZEC. No PayPal, no Wise, no stacked fees
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Payment Links: one-off payment requests for commissions, consulting, digital goods
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Viewing-Key-Gated Content: prove you paid to unlock content. A privacy-native paywall using Zcash viewing keys
Every one of these follows the same pattern: the privacy is the headline, but the real advantage is no fees, self-custody, and no platform dependency. Tipping proves the plumbing works. The rest is building on the same foundation.
What We Need
Honestly? Feedback. Early creators who are willing to actually test this and tell us what’s broken or missing. Community signals that this direction makes sense, or pushback on where it doesn’t.
We’re not asking for anything specific right now. We just want to have the conversation. If you think the thesis is wrong, tell us why. If you think we’re missing something obvious, we want to hear it. If you’re a creator and want to try it, go to https://tipz.cash and let us know how it goes.
Questions, criticism, ideas, all welcome.