Only1 has recently secured a substantial investment of $5 million with the aim of developing a Web3 platform akin to OnlyFans, but built on the Solana blockchain. The investment is spearheaded by Newman Group, reflecting growing interest and confidence in the potential of decentralized adult content platforms.
This strategic move by Only1 is motivated by the desire to challenge the dominance of OnlyFans, which currently commands a significant share of the adult content industry, estimated at around $1 billion out of a total market worth approximately $1.6 billion. OnlyFans’ success is primarily driven by its revenue model, where creators are required to relinquish a hefty 20% of their earnings to the platform. Moreover, creators become intricately tied to the platform, as their content, followers, and earnings are all embedded within its ecosystem, making it challenging for them to migrate elsewhere even if they desire to do so.
The vulnerability of platforms like OnlyFans has been underscored by past incidents, including a notable threat in 2021 when financial institutions pressured OnlyFans to implement a ban on all adult content. Such incidents highlight the precarious position in which creators find themselves, trapped between the need for social media platforms to promote their work and the lack of fair compensation for their efforts.
This situation epitomizes the broader landscape of social media today, where creators often find themselves at the mercy of centralized platforms that wield considerable control over their livelihoods. The ever-shifting rules and regulations imposed by these platforms further exacerbate the challenges faced by creators, leaving them vulnerable to sudden bans and content removals.
For crypto enthusiasts, platforms like OnlyFans represent ripe targets for disruption in the transition from Web2 to Web3. By leveraging blockchain technology and decentralization principles, projects like Only1 aim to offer creators greater autonomy and control over their content and earnings, potentially revolutionizing the landscape of adult content creation and distribution.
The cryptocurrency solution to OnlyFans.
Introducing Only1, a unique content platform that leverages Solana as its settlement layer, aiming to address the most significant issues prevalent in the adult content platform sector—specifically, issues related to low trust and payment censorship. As outlined in Only1’s blog:
“Mixing social media, an NFT marketplace, a scalable blockchain, and the native token — $LIKE, Only1 offers fans a unique way of connecting with the creators they love. By using the Only1 platform, fans will have the ability to invest, access, and earn from the limited edition content created by the world’s largest influencers/celebrities, all powered by NFTs.”
This aligns with Only1’s vision to incentivize participation, as they express:
“We seek to reward creators and fans wholly, and proportionally embrace the creator’s economy through NFTs and DeFi.”
Only1 introduces various revenue streams for creators, including the option to sell passes—essentially permanent memberships granting access to exclusive content. These passes can be traded on the platform at higher prices if there’s high demand, with creators earning a 5% royalty on each trade.
Moreover, creators have the opportunity to earn 100% of the subscription fees from fans, made possible by the peer-to-peer transaction model. This circumvents traditional payment processors and banking partners, substantially increasing creators’ share of earnings.
Through the Only1 platform, fans gain the ability to invest, stake, and earn from content created by leading influencers worldwide, all facilitated by NFTs. This is made possible by Only1’s native token LIKE, which rewards both fans and creators for their contributions to the platform.
Fans can also stake LIKE tokens and earn interest on their coins in influencer-specific staking pools. The rewards from staking are split between the fan and the creator, fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between the company, content creators, and fans, rather than a parasitic one.
Does Only1’s Vision Have Sufficient Support?
Only1 has secured $3.5 million in funding from venture capital firms such as Animoca Brands (known for its investment in Sandbox) and Newman Capital (leading investor in Memeland), to forge ahead with its vision of a decentralized creator economy. With the most recent investment of $1.3 million, the total raised now stands at $4.8 million.
Only1 is excited to announce a $1.3M strategic round, bringing our total capital raised to $4.8M to build the OnlyFans on Solana.
AI-powered tools, ref-links, and confirmed creators with 10M+ followers collectively, here is why we are super excited for May 2024 and beyond: pic.twitter.com/D7CFCUaKHz
— Only1 (@JoinOnly1) April 21, 2024
These investments have already yielded significant results, with Only1 experiencing substantial adoption and boasting over 40,000 monthly active users. This trend is expected to continue, especially with the imminent onboarding of several creators in May who collectively command over 10 million followers, as hinted by Only1.
Remarkably, despite not spending any funds on acquiring creators, Only1 has facilitated over $100,000 worth of merchandise sales through customer-to-customer trades. The platform’s top creator, Angelina, has earned a net profit of $21,000 to date, underscoring the substantial financial opportunities available to both creators and fans alike.
While this adoption rate is promising, there remains some hesitation among crypto-skeptical users of established platforms. For instance, professional OnlyFans content creator Lucas Moreno expressed interest in Only1 due to its promised 0% fee on tips and subscriptions. However, he anticipates challenges in persuading his existing following to transition to a new platform. Moreno elaborated:
“Even if it’s a great idea, there’s a lot of education needed and a lot of demystifying and unlearning about things that might have gone wrong in other areas in crypto that might give a bad reputation to crypto.”
