Twitch offers discount to its users who pay with Bitcoin

Users can get 10% off their subscription if they use cryptocurrency as their payment method

Twitch, the streaming platform owned by Amazon primarily used by video gamers, is now offering its users a 10% subscription discount if they pay using cryptocurrency through BitPay, the platform’s payment processor.

Bill Zielke, the Chief Marketing Officer of BitPay, noted that Twitch is the first major global brand to offer a promotion based on cryptocurrency out of all the merchants that the payments processor works with.

“We are seeing more online merchants interested in using crypto as a promotional payment form, which is exciting since most marketing payment options are mainly reserved for alternative payments through PayPal. Twitch is the first major merchant to jump on this trend.” Zielke said.

Zielke emphasised that the 10% subscription discount is offered by Twitch, an important detail because some may believe that it is from BitPay. This move towards cryptocurrency comes as a surprise since the streaming platform has had a love-hate relationship with cryptocurrencies.

In March 2019, a reddit user observed that the streaming platform removed Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin (BTC) payment options on subscriptions. At the time, they had also removed BitPay as a payment processor and canceled all their crypto-based subscriptions.

However, these developments did not last long and the crypto payment options were reenabled only three months later.

Zielke did not comment on the platform’s sudden pivot towards cryptocurrencies in 2019, but did mention that Twitch is hoping to attract more crypto users to the platform.

Some speculate that the platform’s growing interest in cryptocurrencies stem from the development of games based on the blockchain as well as the use of digital assets in virtual worlds. Since Twitch appeals mostly to the gaming community, this appears to be the next logical move to take.

Recent statistics indicate that more than 16,000 games were played on the platform at the beginning of July, which is close to an all-time high for Twitch.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have slowly started permeating the online gaming and entertainment industry, where they are valued for their integrity, resilience and anonymity.

The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) Global recently announced the launch of an online gaming platform built using blockchain technology, where users can deposit and withdraw using cryptocurrencies. ESPN Global is working with Cryptopay for the deployment of the platform.

This gaming environment aims to allow users to compete with one another in games and tournaments, where they will be able to profit.