Substack, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed online publishing platform, has started accepting Bitcoin as payments through payment processor OpenNode.
According to an announcement on Monday, August 23, Substack will accept Bitcoin both on-chain and through the Lightning Network. To make Bitcoin payments possible, Substack has integrated OpenNode’s API that will allow Substack users to purchase subscriptions through Bitcoin.
Today we enabled Bitcoin payments, beginning with select crypto publications.
We will continue to invest in features that offer writers more control over their subscriptions and community.
To read some of the great crypto writing on Substack, visit: https://t.co/e8M8K9VZ2W
— Substack (@SubstackInc) August 23, 2021
Writers on the platform will also be paid in Bitcoin. But the Bitcoin payment option is not available for all of the Substack content. According to OpenNode and Substack, the integration will only be available to a select group of crypto-focused publications on the platform.
Substack, founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, is an online publishing platform which allows writers to send their work directly to readers. The platform has reportedly more than 500,000 paid subscribers. It provides “publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure, as well as other key services and a thriving community, to support independent publishers of subscription newsletters.”
Substack hosts a ton of Bitcoin content on its platform such that 2 out of the top 5 paid business newsletters on Substack are focused on Bitcoin. Many prominent figures in the crypto space currently publish using Substack, including analyst Willy Woo and Dan Held, an executive from Kraken cryptocurrency exchange.
Currently, the publication of these two experts— Willy Woo’s newsletter, The Bitcoin Forecast, and The Held Report by Dan Held, are accepting Bitcoin payments. Dan Held, in a tweet, said:
Excited to have played a part in helping getting Bitcoin payments enabled at @SubstackInc!
I really appreciated the responsiveness of leadership listening to our requests.
Thank you @hamishmckenzie and team🙏
— Dan Held (@danheld) August 23, 2021
Dan Held also announced a discount for those who subscribe to his Newsletter with Bitcoin.
Nick Inzucchi, product designer at Substack, commented:
“We’re excited to be working with OpenNode to enable independent publishers on Substack to accept crypto payments. Having this option will give writers more flexibility and freedom, and we look forward to doing more in crypto as our users demand it.”
OpenNode is a Lightning Network-based Bitcoin payment processor that allows to accept Bitcoin payments through its hosted checkouts, ecommerce plugins, and its powerful API. Substack has integrated OpenNode’s API to accepting Bitcoin payments. The OpenNode team said:
“OpenNode is passionate about driving Bitcoin adoption, and with this partnership, we are excited to give Substack writers – starting with select publications – the ability to accept Bitcoin payments from subscribers around the world.”
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