Today we’re introducing tipping on messages to enable big gratitude.

Reactions are an essential tap in every social app. They convey feelings super fast, without the messy specificity of “words”. They’re flexible and contextual and tbh just plain fun to use. But sometimes … an emoji alone is too light to describe how you feel.

Baristas worldwide have already solved this problem — with the venerable tip jar. A smile is great, but a smile and $1 says even more.

Tipping puts your money where your emoji is and says: I value your contribution, literally.

With tipping, you can express your gratitude with a tangible gift, just as quickly as you might send a GIF. It might just spark a conversation, too.

How tipping works

In your Tribes app, you’ll find the Tip tap in alongside (you guessed it) reactions. Tips are $1 by default, and you can customize them to be any asset, in any amount. You’ll confirm your tip with a quick biometric or signature for security, the same way it works anytime you transact.

Tips and Reactions commingle — they’re additive. So you can combine 💡 and $ETH, or 😂 and $MATIC, or 💙 and 💯 and $USDC.

Tips are visible to the chat, just like reactions, so you’ll see tippers and the amount side by side with who reacted, too.

Social + crypto

At Tribes, we believe that so-called “web3 social” products will feel familiar yet full of small, magical moments that crypto tech makes possible. Social is the cake, and web3 is the icing. (Or maybe web3 is the sprinkles baked into the cake? You get it.)

Tipping combines finally-feasible micropayments with the essential social mechanic of reactions, an experiment in adding impact to a lightweight interaction. We can’t wait to see how y’all choose to use it.

About Tribes

Tribes is a Web3-native messaging and group wallet app, here to help the next generation of crypto consumers, creators, communities, and DAOs collaborate and build relationships. For more information, visit tribes.xyz.