dwr
10mo
We’re planning to launch a new, optional “Pro” protocol subscription
1. At launch, subscribers will have a Pro badge on their profile
2. Subscription will be onchain and part of the protocol. 100% of the proceeds go to casters / developers in weekly rewards. This in addition to the existing $25K+ a week in rewards.
3. Planning to add longer casts (10K characters) and up to 4 images per cast for pro subscribers (needs a protocol change). Additional features over time.
4. $120 a year / $10 a month
Why are we doing this?
- The protocol needs to find long-term revenue source that can continue fund caster and developer rewards beyond any one company.
- We originally thought storage fees could be that, but we’ve realized that storage fees should be essentialy free to help growth.
- So we’re trying an opt-in pro subscription as another model
Why now?
- Figuring out a long-term revenue model that works will allow us to double down on investing in growth
This cast is no longer in the channel. Learn more
FAQ
What if I don’t want to subscribe?
- You don’t have to.
It’s too expensive
- The subscription is opt-in. We’re also hoping to make it easy to gift others partial subscriptions. We also think rewards will be a way for people to earn a pro subscription.
Why not launch with the additional features?
- Our goal is get an initial version out and iterate.
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I like the idea but wish the feature set weren’t an uncritical clone of X. Longer casts are good but at 10k, you’re encouraging cannibalization of more thoughtfully composed longform. Just add a newsletter feature with a full editor and archival pub support if you want to go there. They can still be casts, but elevate it. Promote thoughtful writing not Bill Ackman type rants. If you must copy, copy substack, not X.
I’d also recommend looking for at least 20% differentiated media experience that’s not related to the wallet. Probably something with AI. But again don’t copy grok style integration. It’s terrible. Maybe more like cursor etc? A “stream IDE”? Solve threading with AI? I mean, break some interesting new ground.
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If 100% of proceeds go to casters then this isn't sustainable long term for merkle tho
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Why doesn’t Farcaster have ads? I believe this is actually the long-term revenue stream that every company needs.
Farcaster could also partner with other companies to create a tool that integrates ads into miniapps, giving developers a small source of income. This could serve as part of the motivation for developers to build and grow in the long run.
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- We originally thought storage fees could be that, but we’ve realized that storage fees should be essentialy free to help growth.
what does happen with warplet swap fees? (Is it out of the protocol, like a warpcast only thing?)
what does happen with storage units? (in general, and paid ones)
how much additional features will be added in the future? Are you planning on removing any other permissionless feature in the feature to become it a pro only one?
what does happen with API ? Will get pro features (images and casts) or limited?
how do you think this could be affect future clients? will be forced to implement this pro privileges and restrict all other users?
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what does happen with warplet swap fees?
> not material enough to matter
what does happen with storage units?
> getting way cheaper
how much additional features will be added in the future?
> not sure, no plans to remove anything just additive
what does happen with API ? Will get pro features (images and casts) or limited?
> enforced at snapchain, no change to general APIs or data
how do you think this could be affect future clients? will be forced to implement this pro privileges and restrict all other users?
> clients can do whatever they want. certain parts of this will be enforced at snapchain level.
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I think it is interesting to point how it will affect other clients too and may give enough flexibility in the snapchain update (if possible)
others may find others way to get revenue flows and this could just kill innovation at protocol level
swap fees are not relevant because people does not trade with this "doxxed" wallets or small network size is the problem? meaning cannot improve or scale with time? (certainly I was thinking this fee could be a game changer with good volume)
and, will merkle continue developing thinking on everyone or just pro users.. meaning, new additions will be only for pro badges?
can we get custom badges in channels too? (like discord roles, just one color, let's say red, moderators can add and remove xd) (just crossed my mind, ignore or not, idk 😅)
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Do the pro subscribers still need to hold additional $25 in the wallet for the verification badge thing? I think back to back announcements might cause confusions like this.
If we are paying $10 for monthly subscription + a $25 in the wallet then it becomes $35 a month, I know it's optional for the Pro subscription but can these two find a way to merge?
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overall I think this makes sense, my main question out of curiosity would be if there are other parts of the protocol you think are going to similarly need their own revenue streams in the future
also if there were to be protocol-level enhancements for these users(eg. longer casts) would that be handled in a way where devs wouldn’t need some extra configuration to tell who has this pro plan or not?
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Worth experimenting but the revenue is not going to be substantial... for now.
Why not just charge 20%-30% fees in airdrops, paid in USDC?
Airdrop = marketing budget.
It's the same as ad revenue.
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Of course.
I'm suggesting to charge +30% to the projects.
Call it the "distribution fees" to use
* distribution and analytics tools
* notification service
* Etc...
If I was a new project planning to spend $100 in airdrops, I don't mind paying $30 distribution fees.
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Currently, each user pays an annual fee of $5 to use your product. With a total of 600,000 users, you're generating around $3 million in revenue each year. Your Pro protocol package is similar to VIP subscriptions on other platforms like YouTube or Twitter. I believe it would be more practical and appealing if you integrated advertising on Farcaster and shared a portion of that revenue with users.
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