Ex-Ripple CTO Launches Blogging Platform to Pay Content Creators XRP

Cryptocurrency startups are increasingly eyeing content creators as a key use case.

Coil, the San Francisco-based startup founded by former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, just opened the public beta on its blogging platform designed to help scribes earn XRP. Since the closed beta started in August 2018, roughly 1,000 test users have been paying in-browser subscriptions for a monthly rate of $5. Comparable to Spotify, Coil then automatically pays the content creators in XRP based on usage while the user enjoys the flat subscription fee.

Thomas told CoinDesk the new Coil.com blogging platform is working with the digital wallet provider Stronghold for dollar cash-out options in addition to XRP. Initially, the goal is to allow free access with tipping and payment options for bonus content.

Avi Kabani, the author of several nonfiction books about love and relationships, told CoinDesk that so far he's earned 21 XRP, nearly $6, through Coil and XRP tips.

It appears Coil has enabled a circular economy within the XRP community.

"I typically like to save [XRP] in my [Coil] balance to support other creators," Kabani said, adding he'd love to use the Coil blogging platform in addition to his social media channels.

Early Coil user and Forbes contributor Thomas Silkjær told CoinDesk he looks forward to seeing Coil integrations replace some publishing paywalls.

While Coil is uniquely focused on time spent on the page, it is hardly the only tool offering micropayments directly to content creators.

In 2018, the lightning blog Yalls facilitated 20,000 bitcoin invoices in just seven months, while the ethereum-centric platform Cent currently hosts more than 50 blogs that earned creators between $55 and $326 worth of ETH in the past 30 days.

"Using Interledger, content creators can define what currency they wish to receive. And no matter if Coil is spending XRP, it will be bridged on the network to match the content creators' needs: currency-agnostic micropayments," Silkjær said.