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Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

fundhog.bunnylabs.dev

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Re: Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

#11

Post by SamPerson »

blackbrokkoli wrote: post #10

I'm curious about your target market, as well — is there a substantial amount of people who would be willing to donate in crypto, who wouldn't donate with PayPal/Stripe? I just started getting into ko-fi, and I'm wondering from a content creator perspective in which cases your product should be my choice over the classic players (patreon, bymeacoffee, ko-fi). Good luck tho :)

Hey, thanks for the thoughtful question!

Back when I had a small YouTube channel and a Patreon, I actually had 5 or 6 people ask if they could donate in crypto — but I didn’t even have a wallet set up at the time. That really stuck with me. It made me realize there is a niche group of supporters who are deep into crypto and prefer using it over PayPal or Stripe, whether for privacy, convenience, or just because that’s where they keep their funds.

I’m not trying to replace platforms like Ko-fi or Patreon — they’re great. But I think there’s room for a crypto-native alternative that’s simple, creator-friendly, and doesn’t feel like a finance app. If you already have crypto-savvy followers (or are active in Web3 circles), that’s where this could really shine.

Re: Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

#12

Post by blackbrokkoli »

SamPerson wrote: post #11
blackbrokkoli wrote: post #10

I'm curious about your target market, as well — is there a substantial amount of people who would be willing to donate in crypto, who wouldn't donate with PayPal/Stripe? I just started getting into ko-fi, and I'm wondering from a content creator perspective in which cases your product should be my choice over the classic players (patreon, bymeacoffee, ko-fi). Good luck tho :)

Hey, thanks for the thoughtful question! Back when I had a small YouTube channel and a Patreon, I actually had 5 or 6 people ask if they could donate in crypto — but I didn’t even have a wallet set up at the time. That really stuck with me. It made me realize there is a niche group of supporters who are deep into crypto and prefer using it over PayPal or Stripe, whether for privacy, convenience, or just because that’…

Interesting, thanks for the reply. Seems reasonable :)

Re: Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

#15

Post by fragmede »

I built one of these for phantom and Solana. the problem is there are just too many steps involved with building the page, and then it's too slow. I wanted to replace online display ads with a JavaScript widget that would charge you 3 cents as you scroll down the page, or have the "more inside" button charge users 3 cents or whatever. Didn't get to that part, but everything was just so clunky that it only really worked as a tech demo.

The problem is that crypto people already know crypto and have a wallet. It's the people that don't know crypto and are repulsed by it that you have to convince that hey, here's a valid use case for crypto (micropayments) but you have to do all this work before you can use it, and while the rails are there, it's just too immature.

Re: Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

#16

Post by SamPerson »

fragmede wrote: post #14

Getting a 404 from the linked page ( https://fundhog.bunnylabs.dev/ ) right now, unfortunately.

Hey this issue should be fixed now :), I was moving it to a new domain, messed up the dns config of the deployment. You can also checkout fundhog.xyz

Re: Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

#17

Post by SamPerson »

fragmede wrote: post #15

I built one of these for phantom and Solana. the problem is there are just too many steps involved with building the page, and then it's too slow. I wanted to replace online display ads with a JavaScript widget that would charge you 3 cents as you scroll down the page, or have the "more inside" button charge users 3 cents or whatever. Didn't get to that part, but everything was just so clunky that it only really work…

That’s a super thoughtful take — and honestly, I agree with you on a lot of it. The idea of using micropayments to replace display ads is so compelling, especially for content that’s currently ad-saturated. I’ve thought about this too — like charging a few cents to unlock parts of a page, or to keep reading — but yeah, the UX just isn’t there yet for non-crypto folks.

You nailed the core problem: crypto-native users are fine jumping through hoops, but if you’re trying to use crypto to convert or prove a use case to the average user, the bar is just too high. Wallets, gas, confirmations — it feels like asking them to learn how to solder a circuit just to turn on a light.

That’s part of why I kept Fundhog super minimal: no sign-ups, no tokens, just “send crypto to a wallet” with a nice-looking page in the middle. But I totally hear you — there’s still a lot of friction under the hood.

I think the next wave of tools (especially with account abstraction and gasless UX on chains like Polygon/Base) might actually make something like your vision feasible in the near future. Would love to jam more if you ever decide to revisit the widget idea — I think it's a powerful concept.

Re: Show HN: A "Buy Me a Coffee" Button for Crypto Donations

#18

Post by fragmede »

SamPerson wrote: post #17
fragmede wrote: post #15

I built one of these for phantom and Solana. the problem is there are just too many steps involved with building the page, and then it's too slow. I wanted to replace online display ads with a JavaScript widget that would charge you 3 cents as you scroll down the page, or have the "more inside" button charge users 3 cents or whatever. Didn't get to that part, but everything was just so clunky that it only really work…

That’s a super thoughtful take — and honestly, I agree with you on a lot of it. The idea of using micropayments to replace display ads is so compelling, especially for content that’s currently ad-saturated. I’ve thought about this too — like charging a few cents to unlock parts of a page, or to keep reading — but yeah, the UX just isn’t there yet for non-crypto folks. You nailed the core problem: crypto-native users…

it's still up at micropayments.fyi
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