Like any new breakthrough innovation, Bitcoin has a fiercely loyal core supporters and followers who are passionate about the idea. They are the ones to advance and spread the idea and help Bitcoin to rise to the next level. Bitcoin has many fans who are excited about the idea and how it can shape the future of finance, restore the power of money to the masses instead of under central control.

Coinbase has stepped up to the plate to make tipping people possible on Reddit, a website showing the links to interesting information that appeared on the Internet. This is done using the recent microtransaction technology released by Coinbcase. The digital wallet service has posted a blog post outlining “How to Send Bitcoin on Reddit.”

Recently, Coinbase has launched a new feature called free microtransactions to transfer bitcoin directly between two Coinbase accounts. It is still in the very early stages of development and currently limited to micro-transactions for songs on iTunes, in-app, or in-game purchases, tipping or donation services like Flattr and Gittip, and new business models which haven’t been invented yet.

Bitcoin developer Matt Corallo developed a Chrome Extension that adds a small “give bitcoin” link next to posts and comments when you visit Reddit. When user click on the link, it asks for authentication to your Coinbase account. Once user logged in to the account, they can send bitcoin tips on Reddit! The recipient will get a private message on Reddit with a link to claim their funds the first time they receive a tip.  Future tips will flow right into their Coinbase account.

Coinbase plans to introduce micro-transactions feature in mobile also. It says traditional display ads that worked so well on desktop/laptop displays don’t have enough screen real estate on mobile devices and haven’t worked as well.  Paid content (entertainment, games, apps, and in-app purchases) seems to be the business model that will win, but these are almost all micro-transactions with expensive fee structures. Bitcoin has the potential to help this problem by generally lowering fees.

The code for BitTip Chrome browser is completely open source and available on the GitHub page.