How to Accept Bitcoin Donations for Your YouTube/Twitch Live Stream

Live streaming has become incredibly popular over the last few years, with most streamers appearing on YouTube and Twitch. A surprising number of content creators have managed to make a living off of live streaming. How did they do it?

What Is Live Streaming?

Live streaming involves engaging with an audience through a live broadcast rather than uploading pre-recorded videos. Many viewers appreciate the ability to “tune in” to an ongoing stream, and content creators often interact with them during the stream.

Live streamers can monetize their content in a variety of ways. For example, Twitch, one of the largest live streaming platforms, allows streamers to earn money off of ad revenue, recurring subscriptions, one-time donations, and more. Viewers can spend money for perks like displaying their name on the stream, having the streamer read a message out loud, or simply to support the streamer.

Countless content creators have made an incredible amount of money through live streaming. Shroud, one of the most famous live streamers in gaming, has earned millions of dollars in just a few years of live streaming.

Twitch was the dominant platform in the early days of live streaming, which has led to the genre’s association with gaming. That said, some creators stream sports, discussions, or other types of “real” content.

Along with Twitch, some of the most popular platforms for live streaming include YouTube, Mixer, DLive, Instagram Live, and Facebook Live. Different audiences are concentrated on different channels, so it’s important to find the right streaming platform for your brand.

Why Should I Accept Bitcoin Donations?

Most streamers take donations in dollars or their local currency — mostly out of native support — but Bitcoin has become the next natural alternative. In fact, it offers a number of important advantages compared to fiat currencies.

You don’t need a bank account to accept Bitcoin, and you’ll be able to receive payments from almost any location worldwide. There aren’t any transaction fees or hidden costs, and you can transfer Bitcoin into other currencies as needed for a small fee.

Streamlabs and similar platforms have streamlined the process of receiving Bitcoin payments on streaming platforms, and you can also take donations through your website. It has never been easier for streamers to accept Bitcoin donations.

Furthermore, Bitcoin doubles as a currency and an investment. You can spend it or turn it into cash if you want, but many people hold large quantities of Bitcoin as an investment opportunity.

How to Accept Bitcoin Donations

If you have a website, it’s easy to add a Bitcoin payment button directly on your website and start accepting donations. Check out this article for more information about setting up a payment button using Blockonomics (plus it’s free!). Your viewers can simply click and donate in seconds.

If you don’t have a website, you can generate a free donation link with Blockonomics, and add it to your YouTube/Twitch description or live chat to start accepting BTC.

Blockonomics can help you accept donations using our built-in interface. Read this article to learn how to generate your own unique payment URL.

While people still spend cash and credit cards over cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has become the currency of choice for many digital transactions. Accepting Bitcoin payments will help you generate more donations while losing less revenue to transfer fees and other charges.