Have you ever watched streams on Twitch? The popularity of this online platform which offers high-quality broadcasts on different topics has grown significantly for the last years. Nowadays, it is one of the most influential web destinations which attracts vloggers, gamers, and video creators to meet the expectation of every viewer.
You will agree that a 2-million audience of both viewers and streamers on Twitch is a great achievement. However, how could this platform encourage so many influencers to stream their videos on Twitch?
One of the reasons why vloggers prefer this platform is a possibility to get a monetary reward for their efforts. One of the ways to raise money there is getting Twitch Bits.
Let’s find out what these bits are, how to get them, and how you can help streamers earn money using them.
What are Bits on Twitch
It has become clear from the introduction that Twitch Bits have been created with the goal to help streamers get money for their work. But what are these bits exactly?
Look: these are goods which are represented in the form of the animated cheering emotes and can be obtained on the platform for several purposes.
When it comes to the reasons why viewers obtain these emoticons, they are different. These emotes can be used for:
- Supporting and encouraging your favorite streamers or broadcaster;
- Attracting attention in the chats using exclusive emotes;
- Getting recognition due to the badges earned and leaderboards;
- Obtaining streamers’ acknowledgment;
- Chatting in Sub Only chat room;
- Unlocking looks following special exports events.
Each number of bits has its own animation. There are gray, purple, blue, green and red examples which are divided into several small pieces, rotate, get together showing unique animation each.
These emoticons serve as a unique virtual currency on the platform. With their help, you can show your gratitude to broadcasters as well as look outstanding among other Twitch users. This is achieved not only thanks to exclusive emotes you can share but also a system of badges provided to the most active users.
How Do Bits Work
It has been mentioned many times already that bits are used to support streamers, but how exactly does that happen?
Here is the deal: Every user who has this type of virtual currency can ‘donate’ it to broadcasters they fancy.
It is natural that every streamer wants to get some revenue for the work he does. On Twitch, this is achieved in several ways and a case when you send bits is one of them.
When a viewer starts watching a live stream, he or she realizes if it appeals to them or not. High-quality and well-prepared broadcasts require much time and good communication skills, so this job must be paid for. If a stream you are watching is exciting and professionally made, every owner of this unique virtual coin can send a certain number of them in the chat next to it. There is a special option which allows choosing the number of bits to donate to a streamer and the more items you are ready to send, the more mesmerizing animation they will produce in the message.
A chat message on Twitch is called a Cheer. When you show your support for broadcasters cheering them in the channel, the system rewards you with special badges which are shown on the channel where you have received them. The badge changes in accordance with the number of virtual coins you have sent to the Affiliate. The first gray badge with a black triangle in the middle is given for 1 bit, while the maximum donation of 1 million is represented by the yellow sun icon located in the middle of the black square.
This way of supporting global audiences is very comfortable since nobody is made to pay money to streamers. The donation can be made only from the personal viewer’s initiative and accordion to his personal preferences. However, this payment method works the same as subscribers on other platforms helping others to understand how valuable the following content is and whether it is worth your attention.
Twitch Bits Emotes
It is a really great solution to show your gratitude to streamers using special virtual coins, but the main thing that differs Twitch from other platforms is the fact that cheering is accompanied by funny and interesting emoticons, which appear next to the number of coins to be sent.
Viewers and streamers can choose from a range of emoticons offered on the platform. The most popular of them are Kappa, Kreygasm, Swiftrage, 4Head, PJSalt, MrDestructoid, TriHard, NotLikeThis, FailFish, and VoHiYo. However, there are many other emotes available as well.
Kappa is the most famous meme on Twitch which looks like a black-and-white picture of a man who is smirking slightly expressing sarcasm on his face. His animation blinks if you send one bit. If you add 100 or 1000 coins, his blink will transform into a white star at 100 and his head starts shaking at 1000. When the number reaches 5,000, he wears black glasses on his face, while 10,000 coins make his head with glasses on rotate and sparkle in pink and green colors.
Kreygasm is an emote with a portrait of popular Twitch streamer Kreyg expressing elation and pleasure. Swiftrage shows a man shouting and expressing his rage, while 4Head emote is a photo of Cadberry, League of Legends streamer, who is smiling from a joke.
If you are a new Twitch user and want to learn more about emoticons used on the platform, enter any of the names in the search engine and you will see how they look and find information about their meaning easily.
To choose the emoticon you like to be displayed in your cheer message, you need to type its title next to the number. The same emote has several animations, so the higher amount of your donation is, the cooler animation you will see in your cheer.
How to Get Bits on Twitch
New users of Twitch might be interested in how they can show their gratitude to streamers using these virtual coins. In fact, this process does not take much time and effort since all Partners and Affiliates from any corner of the world can enable bits in two popular ways.
Buy Bits
The easiest and the fastest way to get Twitch virtual currency is to purchase it for money online. There is no need to look for special platforms that buy them since everything is available on the website. You need to complete several simple stages to farm bits.
The first thing you should do is to enter your Twitch account. Open the channel page where there are 2 places to do that:
- First, look at the upper corner on the right located over the video player. You will see a purple button with the words “Get Bits” there. As soon as you press it, you will be offered to select the number of these so-called coins.
- The second place where you can get Twitch currency is the bottom of the chat. Find a chat message window on the screen and you will see the Emoticon button in it. When you click it, a new small window will open. It will show how many coins you own already, how many bits are required to support a certain streamer and provide a list with the standard packages.
After you choose one of the places for a purchase, the system will offer you simple instructions to complete it. The minimum number of coins you can buy is 100 and the maximum is 25,000. When you select the number, the system will offer you two basic payment methods accepted:
- Amazon;
- PayPal.
You need to tick a suitable method and press “Continue”. If you are not logged in, the system will ask you to authorize.
Review page offers you to check if bits are added to your account, their number, and payment method chosen. If everything is correct, click “Pay Now” button and get your coins immediately!
Get Free Bits
Don’t you want to spend money? If your desire to encourage streamers is overwhelming but there is no cash, there is good news for you too.
This is crazy: you can get free bits!
How can you do that? In fact, there is nothing difficult. Choose one of the places to get Twitch currency on the website and next to the bit packages for sale, you will see a suggestion to get 5 or more coins.
This reward is given to those who watch short ads on the website. Unfortunately, only US citizens can get coins for watching ads, but there is good news too – there are no limits in the number of advertisements to watch, so you can easily get a required number of coins spending some time in front of the screen. Watch ads for bits till the end and praise you favorite broadcasters each time you wish! Sometimes you may be asked to complete a short survey after the ad.
When the process is completed, you will get a notification about the number of coins earned. However, it may take several minutes to add them to your account inventory.
It is also worth mentioning that there is a limit of 250,000 coins to buy for one time, while the maximum amount of currency to spend per day is 500,000.
How to Use Bits
Despite the fact that Twitch virtual coins have been created mostly for praising broadcasters, they can be used not only by viewers but also by streamers.
Every new Partner and Affiliate can take advantage of cheering immediately after joining the platform.
When you start your channel, you also should set up the minimum number of virtual coins which can be sent to you by viewers. It means that viewers will not be able to send you fewer coins than the minimum number set up by you. Another piece of advice is to set the smallest Bit Emote which is accepted in your channel. If you set up 100 Bit Emote as the smallest one, your viewers will not be able to send you gray emotes ranging between 1 and 99.
It is also important to choose which badges and cheermotes can be used on your channel by viewers. Both of them make your channel exclusive and outstanding. Badges serve as an encouragement for viewers to make donations while cheermotes make their experience more customizable.
One more important thing to remember for streamers is a compilation of the list of top cheerers. It will show you affection for your fans and encourage them to continue cheering on your channel.
What do Bits Do for Streamers
It is possible to suppose that if bits represent coins and you send them to broadcasters, probably, they get a monetary reward thanks to that. It is absolutely true. When a streamer receives a certain number of bits, they are added to his channel account.
What is implemented in the word ‘support’ and ‘encouragement’ in this case? Naturally, it is providing streamers with the opportunity to make new broadcasts, and money is a necessity in this case. It goes without saying that most of the broadcasters sharing their video streams on Twitch love this activity and get pleasure from it. However, if they devote so much of their time to the creation of these broadcasts, how can they earn for a living? What can encourage them to continue the job they do?
The answer is simple: of course, this is money. Popular streamers have transformed their hobbies into a means of earning their living. They get rewards for ads, direct money transactions from their fans, as well as monetary support in the form of unique Twitch virtual currency called bits. It encourages them to work more on their project devoting it more time and effort since they do not require to look for other ways of earning their living.
How Much do Streamers Get From Bits
You may wonder how much streamers get from every bit.
Look: every bit from cheering is equal 1 cent.
The money a streamer gets from supporters is accumulated together with the earnings received from ads or sub and can be withdrawn after this broadcaster hits the payout threshold.
Many viewers do not understand why it is better to use Twitch virtual currency instead of the direct PayPal money transactions. In fact, there used to be many cases when viewers were sending cash via PayPal and charged them back in some time to troll streamers.
When it comes to every bit earned or purchased, this currency is absolutely safe for streamers.
One more misconception connected with bits is their cost. You need to pay $19.95 for 1,500 virtual coins, but even if you donate all of them, a broadcaster will receive only $15. Is the rest a tax or commission you may wonder?
In fact, the rest of the money received by the Twitch platform is used for creating special moderating tools for streamers, conduct fraud checks, and guarantee protection against chargebacks. As a result, streamers do not have to invest their own money to support the platform and can enjoy all the benefits offered to them. It is a kind of investment in the further development of the platform they work on.
How to Donate Bits on Twitch
We have already mentioned that this virtual money is used for supporting and praising streamers who appeal to you. It means that you need to select the video content you like and start watching it.
At the bottom of the page, you will see a chat message where viewers leave their comments about this stream. However, it is also the way to send bits too.
If you want to give a certain number of coins to a broadcaster, you need to type the word “cheer” and indicate the number next to it (for example, “cheer 100”). As soon as you press enter, your donation will be shown in the chat in the form of animation. You can type any comments next to your cheering if you wish.
There are situations when views may mistype and indicate the wrong number of coins to send. However, it is not a problem since every cheering is delivered to the chat only after 5 seconds of countdown time, so you can cancel your donation and correct it.
If you want to accompany your cheering with emoticon, choose the one you like from the menu. You can write the name of the emoticon and accompany it with the number of coins you want to send. In this case, you will see a funny emote instead of the standard animation next to your donation.
It is also possible to cheer anonymously, but you will not get any badges and cannot add emotes too.
Conclusion
Twitch Bits might have been a mystery for people who do not use this platform actively or is a newbie here. But this article has provided a variety of details regarding this unique virtual currency used on the platform and explained how to get and use them if you are a streamer or a viewer. Don’t hesitate to get and purchase this currency if you have favorite streamers on the platform since the support of fans is very important to them. Moreover, these coins contribute to the further development of the platform and attract new broadcasters on a variety of topics.
