Two currencies sit behind every gift on Bigo, and mixing them up is a common point of confusion for new users. Diamonds are what viewers buy and send, beans are what streamers receive and cash out, and the path between them is simpler than it looks.
Diamonds: what viewers buy and spend
Diamonds are the currency you purchase with real money and spend inside Bigo. Their main job is powering virtual gifts, the animated items you send to a streamer during a live session. Every gift carries a diamond cost, from small, playful icons to large animations that take over the screen. Diamonds have no cash value on their own, and a streamer never receives them directly. Their value comes from what they let you do in a stream and from the support they represent when a gift reaches the person you are watching.
Beans: what streamers receive
Beans are the currency streamers earn. Viewers buy diamonds, not beans, so beans only ever appear on the streamer’s side of the exchange. When a gift is sent, the diamonds are spent from the viewer’s balance and the streamer’s account is credited with beans instead. Those beans build up over time and can be exchanged for real money through Bigo’s payout system, which is how gifting turns into income for creators.
The full chain, step by step
Step one, the viewer buys diamonds. They are added to the viewer’s balance, whether the purchase happens in the app or through a reseller by entering a Bigo ID and choosing a package.
Step two, the viewer sends a gift. Diamonds come out of the balance, the animation plays on screen, and the streamer sees the viewer’s username attached to it.
Step three, the gift converts to beans. Behind the scenes, the value of the gift is credited to the streamer as beans.
Step four, beans accumulate. They add up across streams and count toward the payout thresholds Bigo sets.
Step five, the streamer cashes out. Once the requirements are met, beans can be exchanged for real money through the payout system.
Where new users get tripped up
Many new viewers hear streamers talk about beans and assume they need beans to send a gift. They do not, gifting only ever runs on diamonds. New streamers sometimes make the opposite mistake, seeing a large diamond number attached to a gift and assuming that is exactly what landed in their earnings. Both mix-ups come from treating the two currencies as one.
Do not assume the numbers match
A common assumption is that a gift worth 1,000 diamonds hands the streamer 1,000 beans. The two currencies do not necessarily convert one to one, and the conversion is set by Bigo, so it can differ from what viewers expect and may change over time. If you want to know what a gift is actually worth to a streamer, check the current figures in the app or on Bigo’s official channels instead of relying on a number you saw in a comment section.
Why the split matters for gifters
Knowing the chain changes how gifting feels. Each gift is more than an animation, it becomes part of a streamer’s earnings and counts toward their standing on the platform. It also explains why streamers react so warmly to gifts, and why regular support from a small group of viewers can matter as much as one big moment. You do not need to run conversion maths every time you send something, but you can gift knowing where your diamonds end up.
Quick reference
Diamonds: bought by viewers, spent on gifts, no cash value on their own.
Beans: earned by streamers from the gifts they receive, exchanged for real money through Bigo’s payout system.
At Discount Diamond Store, we take care of the diamond side of the chain. Enter your Bigo ID, choose a package, and your diamonds arrive within minutes, ready to send the next time a stream earns it. Head to discountdiamondstore.com to top up your balance.
