Overview
InkDAO is a Web3 content publishing platform that enables creators to monetize their knowledge directly through blockchain technology. At its core, it's built on a simple principle: creators should own their content and capture most of its value, without intermediaries taking large cuts.
The Core Idea
Think of InkDAO as a digital marketplace for knowledge where creators publish content as digital assets. Unlike Medium where the platform controls everything, or YouTube where 45% goes to the platform, InkDAO is truly decentralized with no intermediaries, 100% of revenue goes directly to creators.
When someone publishes on InkDAO, three things happen: their content is stored permanently on IPFS (distributed storage), ownership is recorded on Ethereum blockchain, and they set their own price. When someone purchases access, they're buying permanent ownership through blockchain tokens, not renting monthly access.
How It's Different
Traditional Platforms: Medium articles disappear if Medium shuts down. YouTube takes 45% of earnings. Substack charges 10% plus payment processing fees. Your content lives on company servers they control.
InkDAO: Content lives on IPFS (can't be deleted by any single entity). Truly decentralized with no intermediaries—creators keep 100%. Readers buy content once and own it forever through blockchain tokens. No one can censor or remove your content.
The Four Pillars
1. Content Publishing: Creators use a rich text editor to write posts with images, code, and more. They save drafts privately, then publish to the blockchain when ready. Each post becomes a unique digital asset represented by a token ID in the MarketPlace contract (ERC-6909 multi-token standard).
2. Subscription Model: Readers pay once for lifetime access—no monthly subscriptions. They receive non-transferable blockchain tokens (soul-bound) proving ownership. Access never expires and is permanently tied to their wallet.
3. Storage Architecture: Content lives on IPFS (distributed, permanent) while ownership records live on Ethereum blockchain (immutable, transparent). This hybrid approach provides permanence without centralization.
4. Economic Model: Creators set any price from free to premium. 100% goes to creators—no intermediaries. Payments are instant and direct to creator wallets.
Who It's For
Creators: Anyone with knowledge to share—developers, researchers, educators, analysts. If you can teach something valuable, you can earn on InkDAO.
Readers: People seeking quality knowledge they can own permanently. Web3 enthusiasts, students, professionals, and anyone tired of renting access through subscriptions.
The Ecosystem: A knowledge marketplace where quality rises naturally because valuable content earns more, encouraging creators to produce more quality content.
The Value Proposition
For Creators: Keep 100% of revenue, own your content, reach global audience, build permanent value (posts keep earning years later), no platform lock-in.
For Readers: Buy once, own forever. No subscriptions, no expiring access, true ownership through blockchain tokens, support creators directly.
For the Ecosystem: Direct relationships between creators and readers, market-driven quality, censorship resistance, global and permissionless access.
How It Works (Simple Flow)
Create: Write content in the editor, save drafts privately on IPFS
Publish: Add thumbnail, description, and price. Publish to blockchain (assigns unique token ID in MarketPlace contract)
Discover: Readers browse posts, see metadata and prices
Purchase: Reader pays (100% to creator), receives non-transferable blockchain tokens
Access: Token ownership verified via ERC-6909 balance check, content served from IPFS
Own: Reader has permanent access through soul-bound tokens tied to their wallet
The Technology
Frontend: React application with Web3 wallet integration
Storage: IPFS via Pinata for content, Ethereum for ownership
Blockchain: Sepolia testnet (currently), smart contracts in Solidity
Authentication: Wallet signatures (no passwords, no email)
Payments: Direct ETH transactions, instant settlement
Current Status
InkDAO runs on Ethereum's Sepolia testnet, making it free to test and experiment. As a fully decentralized platform, all revenue flows directly to creators without any intermediaries. The platform operates as a public good, ensuring content creators retain complete ownership of their earnings.
The Vision
A world where knowledge creators can monetize fairly, readers can own what they buy, and no central authority can censor, delete, or extract excessive value from the relationship. Where quality content finds its audience globally, and the economic incentives align toward creating genuine value rather than maximizing engagement at any cost.
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