Web Monetization In Crypto: The Skynet Way

Skynet is an open protocol for building and hosting decentralized applications. It is built on Sia, a decentralized storage network. Today, the Skynet Labs team introduces new paid accounts, setting the stage for recursive content monetization.

The first 100 Hackernoon readers to sign up at http://siasky.net receive a free Skynet Plus account. The giveaway comes with 1 TB data storage and accelerated speeds for 1 year.

Use code: HACKERNOON100 at the checkout to redeem.

Through accounts, application developers will soon be able to monetize their web applications in real-time. By attaching a price tag per use, developers can finally be compensated fairly and transparently in crypto
for their work. This recursive content monetization frees developers to focus on building and meeting their users' needs, not on appealing to traditional advertisers.

Per David Vorick, Skynet Labs CEO and Lead Developer:

“We believe that developers and content creators alike should be able to earn income off of their hard work so long as they have users that appreciate what they do.”

Like developers, content creators will be able to set the price per view or download of their work and earn directly from their blogs, photos, and videos.

How do premium accounts support monetization?

When users pay for premium accounts in fiat, they provide a steady revenue stream from which to pay out content creators. Skynet Labs
believes that application developers and content creators deserve fairer
opportunities for advancement. Therefore, paid premium accounts are not only a functional means to that end, but are an important symbolic one:

Paid account users are standing up against the massive disparity between a developer's app popularity and their earnings. Creators and developers deserve better.

Skynet Labs has always been committed to the freedom of expression, information, and importantly, access. Therefore, Skynet’s Free account tier supporting up to 100 GB of data, seeks to ensure that financial barriers never prohibit users and developers from participating in the Skynet ecosystem. Once a user meets their data cap, service on Skynet will continue but at reduced speeds, in a way similar to data plans for smartphones.

Overall, users can opt for one of three paid tiers:

$5/mo that gives users improved speeds up to 1 TB of data stored

$20/mo that gives users accelerated speeds up to 4 TB of data stored

$80/mo that gives users extreme speeds up to 20 TB of data stored.

Skynet Premium also comes with significant performance boosts: users will be able to pin content and browse Skynet faster, in particular any pages with monetized content.

The benefits of a premium account are not purely in performance—these
users are actively fueling a new creator economy, and a revolution that gives creators and developers everywhere the power they deserve.