A manifesto for what Paragraph could become. Let me start with a little rant that follows up on the discussion that happened on Farcaster around this topic - my go-to person is Danica Swanson; she always has great, well-thought-out takes.

What Will Actually Get Writers Paid in Web3?

This is what we all want. Get writers a way to live off their writing. But let’s be honest: no platform will magically make writers rich (or writing financially sustainable) just by integrating coins or NFTs. And I believe we’ve seen every possible version of this already — tipping, micropayments, attention-based tokens, pay-per-line-read, articles minting, etc.

At the end of the day, the same old tradeoffs still apply:

• Free writing = more reach

• Paid writing = less reach

There are also not so many parties benefiting from writing. I mean presumably those benefiting from writing (or any activity) should pay writers:

• Your readers - everyone focusing here

• Platforms you write on - you make them a living

• Social networks - you make them possible

Platforms and social networks are ultimately those benefiting from your writing and the crowd you bring in so it's only fair to assume they should pay writers some fee - Danica calls it, I believe, Conversation Liquidity Providers. It just doesn't seem to have an existing flywheel mechanism that would allow money flows without spamming and gaming attempts that spoil the experience for everyone. That's for different essay.

And for readers?

The same friction: they don't know if something’s worth their time (or money) until they’ve consumed it. Many don't want to (or can't afford to) pay even after they consumed it. Any form of payment — whether it's fiat, tokens, or social proof — is a speed bump in user experience. Unless we make paying writers into a visible symbol of "good behaviour," generosity, or higher status. Medium did a good job with their membership program early on - everyone I know paid $5/m to have that badge and show support for the platform and respect for other writers.

Subscriptions work because they remove that friction after one decision. Albeit that decision may take a long time.

Now, back to the real question and why this turned into a long form rant - because of Paragraph's future;

What makes Paragraph different — and what could it become?

I saw Reid mention experimenting with coins on Paragraph, and it made me pause. It felt like Paragraph might’ve drifted from its original vision — even though I can't now articulate that vision, which means it wasn't sold very well or I wasn't paying attention.

But here’s what I believe:

Paragraph has to lean into its one true advantage — proof-of-origin.
That’s the edge. The Web3-native differentiator. The thing that Substack or Beehiiv cannot replicate.

Trying to out-feature Beehiiv or Substack? Forget it. Not realistic. Those platforms are already optimized for Web2 growth loops and scale. Paragraph’s opportunity isn’t being better — it’s being something else entirely. That's the story, not the feature that needs to be sold.

• It’s about proximity to crypto.

• Proximity to onchain identity.

• Proximity to composability.

• Proximity to the human component of crypto.

• Proximity to writers and readers who value permanence, provenance, and openness over perfection.

That's why I still love Paragraph. Not because it’s slicker — it isn’t. But because it might unlock something entirely new. A way of publishing that’s native to this evolving ecosystem.

And there's another key angle which might work out nicely: composability.
Being onchain — really onchain — could eventually allow Paragraph content to plug into a much broader universe: smart contract-based discovery engines, wallets, reputation layers, and, of course, already existing token-gated communities, Farcaster feeds, and beyond. But all done better and with more love.

But this only matters if the fundamentals are in place:
Is it easy to write, publish, and grow an audience? - Not there yet, I'd say.

There’s No Magical Monetization Hack

The problem is that there is no “Web3 twist” that fixes the core challenge of writing. Coins won’t save us. NFTs won’t save us. Speculation won't save us.

The only real path for writers remains the same:

The writing needs to be so obviously valuable that the right people are happy to pay for it.

This means, unfortunately, that there will be many great writers with great writing, which may be great but not valuable, so nobody will want to pay for it. Until ... the crowd of true fans forms and they'll not pay for the value in the writing itself, but they'll pay to support their favorite writer. They'll pay for a chance to be in the human connection with him/her - and also for the fact that it's not a bot but a human.

All this requires belief, consistency, clarity, and salesmanship. Yes, even authors have to sell.
You build a crowd by showing up. You can grow by solving problems, telling fun stories, or sharing insights that matter. You earn by becoming someone people want to support and selling them on your vision.

But here’s the good news:

There’s never been a better time to be a thoughtful human online.

In a sea of AI-generated fluff, real voice matters.
Honest thinking matters.
Being a person — not a product — can be the moat.

So that's where I think Paragraph can build and shine. Let’s give writers the space to grow that kind of presence, and readers the tools to connect in a deeper way.

Possible Vision: What Paragraph Can Compete On

Paragraph shouldn’t fight on features and too many experiments that others can do. The small team needs to focus. It should compete on philosophy, structure, and future-proofing. Here are six bold angles it could own:

1. Proof-of-Origin Publishing

This one is big for me; make “onchain provenance” the norm, not the niche. Every piece of content published through Paragraph should feel permanent, timestamped, and ownable. Proof of authorship, proof of publication, and proof of ideas — baked into the protocol layer.

Let writers own their identity and their archive in ways Web2 never allows.

2. Web3-native Distribution (+ Web2)

Paragraph is not a closed platform but it could become a full publishing layer that routes into everything decentralized, like it does now, and more:

• Farcaster

• XMTP

• Lens

• Tokenized communities

• DAO newsletters

• Wallet feeds

• Posts stored on Arweave (or eventually IPFS/Filecoin/others)

• ENS-based identities

• Reputation graphs that follow you across platforms

• P2P protocols for publishing by small and medium-sized publishers (see Distributed Press note in the end)

Make publishing programmable — and interoperable for writers and organisations alike.

3. Human Circles For Writers

Paragraph could offer something like — invite-only writers' clubs, spaces where humans connect around publishing. Think salons. Think craft circles. Think campfires, not forums.

Offer weekly “intro visits” for new members, mentorship matches, and contributor-driven feature requests. Writers will stay for the product, but return for the people. I've done this in Fastrack Magazines for authors and artists, and everyone loved it.

4. Monetization - Not Just Tokens

Paragraph must support (or have partners that provide it) any type of possible monetization strategies;

• Collectable essays

• Token-gated series

• Patronage tiers via onchain subscriptions

• Reading-to-own mechanics

• Attention based payments

• Gift $5 or Tip $10 buttons

• any monetization type that works or could work, and even what didn't work yet, should be doable on Paragraph.

These tools serve the craft and help writers "sell" — it's not the tech show. Everyone is different that's why Paragraph should absolutely support everything that was tried in Web3.

5. Becoming Publishing Standard for Web3 Projects

This is the big one.

Every serious Web3 project — from DAOs to DeFi to identity protocols — needs a way to communicate. Paragraph should be such home for updates, ideas, and vision.

Paragraph should go all-in on Web3 BD - you have to sell this ecosystem on Paragraph (not Paragraph of today but its vision):

• Get every project to publish natively on Paragraph

• Offer custom landing pages for protocols, projects, and prolific builders

• Build out a “Protocol Publishing Hubs” where readers can follow updates from their favorite onchain ecosystems

• Add badges to readers' profiles based on what "Hubs" they're actively part of, i.e., collecting from or subscribing to.

This is how you can build distribution and loyalty at the same time.

But this story — this vision — needs to be sold. Actively. Every day. Every newcomer needs to be celebrated.

Final Thoughts and DP

I think Paragraph also has a chance to onboard and future-proof Web2 publishers - you can sell them on points 1. and 2. - they want to survive. They don't know what's going to happen. They welcome at least some other vision than being rolled over by Google and swallowed by OpenAI. It's another BD work to be done, but work that brings new writers or whole organisations and onboards them slowly and without friction to Web3. I know, I spoke with many of them.

Could Paragraph partner with something like Distributed Press to accelerate its role as the Web3 gateway for indie publishers? I definitely think so. Distributed Press has a good technical base, it's a small team building open-source, but no commercial engine. Paragraph could plug in, make it usable, and bring new people in.

Could Paragraph spark more community by building real spaces for writers to meet, share, and grow? Of course. The tools are already there — the intention just needs to catch up.

I'll be honest, Paragraph's progress recently seems slow but I do believe Paragraph can win on clear vision of permanence, writers' reputation, and human aspect.

It can be something as simple as this:

You don’t write on Paragraph to grow fast. You write here to write forever.
To find your people. To own your work. To publish for the long game.

That's it. I'd love to hear what you think about this. Any questions? Was this useful? Shoot me an email or just DM.

Till next time, let's BUILD BETTER!

Pete (aka BFG)

Coming Up Next:

In the upcoming essays I'll come back to exploring different theories around market cycles - think Ray Dalio's Debt, Shumpeter's Creative Destruction, Kondratiev's Long Waves. The first essay is here in case you missed it 😉

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