Substack, a subscription-based online media platform that boasts over half a million users, has started accepting Bitcoin Lightning payments in partnership with payment processor OpenNode, according to an Aug. 23 press release.
In a press release, Substack’s product designer Nick Inzucchi says that the addition of the flagship cryptocurrency will provide writers with more “flexibility and freedom”
We’re excited to be working with OpenNode to enable independent publishers on Substack to accept crypto payments.
With the backing of big-name enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz, Substack has was a significant force within the media industry since its inconspicuous launch in 2017. The corporate has primarily thrived off of the eroding level of trust in legacy media.
“A natural fit”
OpenNode CTO Joao Almeida says that Bitcoin is “a natural fit” for the platform. Content creators will have the ability to retain their earnings in crypto.
Eschewing editors and advertisers, Substack writers are in a position to ship their paywalled content material on to readers. Journalists can enjoy creative freedom and achieve more recognition for his or her work since they’re now overshadowed by the names of their publications.
Because it continues to increase, Substack lately hired media law veteran Tim Hwang as its basic counsel.
The corporate is at the moment valued at $4 billion after its Series C funding round that took place in April.
Whereas it’s attainable to earn as much as a seven-figure yearly salary on the platform, Substack is just not as remunerative for journalists as it appears to be at first look. Some go so far as calling the platform a “scam” as a result of odd customers won’t ever have the ability to construct a subscriber base that will probably be robust sufficient to secure the identical yearly salary as that of Professional staffers.
Whereas it’s not clear whether or not Substack would be the way forward for journalism, Bitcoin‘s Lightning Network is shaping as much as be the way forward for funds based mostly on its quickly rising adoption.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey lately tweeted that it could solely be “a matter of time” till the leading social media platform would allow support for Bitcoin’s Layer 2 solution.
