Argentina's Largest Local Social Network Taringa Adds Bitcoin

Argentinean social network platform Taringa will tip its content creators in bitcoin after partnering with wallet and custodial service provider Xapo.

The free social network, which boasts 75 million monthly users, enables people from all over the world to create and share information on its platform.

A loosely translated statement by Hernán Botbol, Taringa's co-founder, read:

"By partnering with Xapo, we have found an excellent revenue share model to incentivise our content creators. Bitcoin's penetration in South America is incipient, almost a rarity, so we believe our users will perceive the bitcoin payouts very positively, thus encouraging people to join the programme whilst stimulating mainstream adoption of bitcoin."

Botbol noted that Xapo's strategic position in the South American market was a decisive factor in the forging of the partnership between both parties.

"We chose Xapo because it is one of the safest bitcoin wallets out there and because their strategy is placed on the Hispanic market. The company is led by a group of Latin American entrepreneurs and that means that they really understand our market and the needs of the millions of users in the region," he said.

Wences Casares, founder and director of Xapo, commented on the potential of the South American market, noting that Argentina's unbanked population could benefit from bitcoin.

He said:

"The partnership will provide a unique opportunity for many people to try out how bitcoin works and to gage the digital currency's reception in the region. South America is an interesting market because of its increasing Internet penetration and its community of early adopters of technology who still do not have access to bitcoin."

The announcement follows the launch of Xapo Institutions, a series of products aimed at capturing additional customers including businesses, bitcoin exchanges, hedge funds and institutional investors.

How it works

The new bitcoin tipping programme, 'Taringa Creadores', will combine an ad-revenue sharing model similar to YouTube's with the social network's unique ranking system in order to incentivise the sharing of popular content.

Initially, the service is invite-only and will prompt the platform's top content creators to register for the programme.

The size of the bitcoin tips, which will de deposited into the users' Xapo wallets, will depend on the amount of views, points and advertising revenue generated by each post.

Tips image via Shutterstock.