How much are your favourite Bitcoin #influencers, educators, and speakers being paid, by whom, and what does that do to the Bitcoin content and #podcasts we consume?
- Ads: A single 300K-view video can earn $5,000+ before sponsorships. The incentive is to create content optimised for emotional reactions and clicks.
- #Sponsors: Publicly filed press releases from a single Bitcoin company show a creator sponsorship at $22,000/month in cash and shares, and another exceeding $480,000 over 18 months. At that rate, what creator is going to scrutinise the service paying their salary? The audience never sees what wasn't said.
- Affiliate Deals: Some of the most recommended Bitcoin services pay creators up to $450 per converted lead. 57% of the top channels I audited had at least one undisclosed affiliate link. When that's not disclosed, you hear a personal endorsement, but what you're actually getting is a referral payment disguised as a personal endorsement.
- Conferences: Speaking slots, sponsors, and audience size feed each other in a loop that compounds and amplifies certain voices. I was offered a fully paid trip to a major conference plus a six-figure sum to present. Almost 1.5 Bitcoin. I turned it down because the offer itself was exactly what this series is about, fiat incentives everywhere...
I spent the last few months researching and writing the series, it's been cathartic. I'm glad to see that now this is an active conversation on Nostr. Here's all the data I gathered on the marketing side:
BEYOND MONEY
Bitcoin Influencers: How Sponsor Money Shapes the Signal
Sponsorships, referral programs, and the compounding loop: how fiat money decides which Bitcoin voices get heard and which creators stay invisible.
Baerson
Your favourite bitcoiner influencers (shudder) are getting paid to lie to you. Let that sink in.
Bitcoin_To_The_Oblivion
Couldn
