YouTube Rival Rumble Debuts Bitcoin, Tether Wallet for Crypto Creator Tips

Publicly traded video streaming firm Rumble rolled out its crypto wallet—called Rumble Wallet—on Wednesday to support crypto payments and tipping for its creator economy. 

Built with stablecoin issuer Tether’s wallet development kit and using payments infrastructure from MoonPay, the non-custodial wallet is directly embedded within the Rumble platform and initially supports dollar-backed stablecoin USDT, Tether’s Gold-backed token (XAUT), and Bitcoin (BTC). 

“Rumble represents free speech and liberty the same way that cryptocurrency and a decentralized internet represent freedom, and Rumble Wallet is the natural combination of those things,” said Rumble founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski in a statement. 

“We are putting more power into the hands of users and creators so they can engage with and financially support the content they like,” he added. “That’s another parallel to free expression, and it’s all unique to Rumble.”

First detailed in July, the wallet plans were bolstered with the October news of Tether’s involvement and crypto tipping support. Now, the Rumble Wallet becomes the first real-world installment of the Tether Wallet Development Kit (WDK), according to the announcement. 

“At Tether, we champion technologies that break boundaries and promote freedom, decentralization, and the fundamental right to free expression. Rumble Wallet brings those ideals together into one product that will give tens of millions of users more control than any platform has offered before, even in the United States,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in a statement.

The stablecoin giant has a vested interest in Rumble’s success, as its connections to the firm run far deeper than the wallet integration. In 2024, Tether committed $775 million to invest in the video-sharing firm. In November, Tether added another 1 million shares and financially backstopped a Rumble acquisition. 

Shares in Rumble (RUM) have dropped around 0.5% so far on Wednesday, recently changing hands at $6.69. The stock has dropped more than 50% in the last year of trading, according to Yahoo Finance. 

A representative for Rumble did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.