Patreon Considers Allowing Creators to Use Crypto for Monetization

Patreon, the membership platform, is pondering the idea of letting creators in its platform issue their own creator coins. The statement, that constituted a revelation, was offered by Patreon CEO and co-founder Jack Conte and Chief Product Officer Julian Gutman during The Information’s 2021 Creator Economy Summit. This is consistent with a report presented last September that evaluated using crypto as part of the platform.

Patreon Flirts With Crypto

Patreon, the well known membership organization, is now pondering the idea of introducing crypto elements to add new revenue paths, according to statements from CEO Jack Conte and Chief Product Officer Julian Gutman. During The Information’s 2021 Creator Economy Summit, both directives admitted the idea of introducing a membership token for content creators is on the table.

While Patreon has explicitly forbidden the introduction of coins as an investment form in its platform, this rise in the crypto along with other circumstances that the platform is facing could push it to modify these rules in the near future. About this, Gutman stated:

I think we’re certainly interested in evaluating and understanding how NFTs or some of the underlying technologies help us create that sustainable long-term earnings for creators.

Conte also praised the crypto worked due to its permissionless and direct traits. This allows creators to own their products and the data from their followers without having to rely on any platform to serve as the middleman, what strangely, Patreon is. “I think that’s what a lot of this technology is getting at, and what I think is really deeply exciting about it,” he stressed.

Crypto as an Alternative

Patreon has had problems with some content creators in the past, which has prompted them to consider crypto-based services as an alternative. In December 2018, Patreon de-platformed some creators from its service including “Sargon of Akkad” aka Carl Benjamin, leaving him without the income from the subscribers that followed him.

This caused Jordan Peterson, another influencer in Patreon’s service, to close his account and launch a new alternative service with more lax rules regarding content moderation. However, the inclusion of crypto in a periodic membership service has been tried before, but without much success.

Ironically, Patreon could be the platform to implement crypto as a response to the new adult policies of Mastercard. The platform hinted at this in its latest policy engagement update, where it declared:

One opportunity creators have expressed interest in is developing a creator coin or social token which could be included as a membership benefit.

What do you think about Patreon’s recent approach to cryptocurrencies? Tell us in the comment section below.