
On June 21st, 2019, the team at [Betaworks Studios](https://betaworks-studios.com/) invited us to talk about Non Fungible Tokens.

They are a type of crypto token which aims at represented unique (or rare) "things". This is intentionnaly vague because they can be used to represent many many things, both virtual and physical.

For example, Non Fungible Tokens can be used to represent membership. If you are a member to Unlock's blog, then you own a Non Fungible Token called a "key".

Among other things, this key will let you access access the slides of the presentation below!


Non Fungible are one of the largest emerging token categories in the crypto asset world. We presented an intro to them at Betaworks Studios!

Non Fungible are one of the largest emerging token categories in the crypto asset world.

Non Fungible Tokens at Betaworks Studios

On June 21st, 2019, the team at <a href="https://betaworks-studios.com/">Betaworks Studios</a> invited us to talk about Non Fungible Tokens.
They are a type of crypto token which aims at represented unique (or rare) "things". This is intentionnaly vague because they can be used to represent many many things, both virtual and physical.
For example, Non Fungible Tokens can be used to represent membership. If you are a member to Unlock's blog, then you own a Non Fungible Token called a "key".
Among other things, this key will let you access access the slides of the presentation below!


The difference between the web and native applications is the presence of **links**. These links are the reason why the web is a "network", as they connect pages together, making a graph. Google and its PageRank algorithm have leveraged that graph to rank websites, by assuming that the sites which have the most links are the most relevant.

![Use one Unlock lock for a variety of services and products.](/images/blog/protocol-for-memberships.png)

## Memberships > Attention

However, since the beginning, these links have also formed **communities**. Websites which discuss the same topics tend to link to each other, creating de-facto communities of interest. The social web reinforced that trend: people following each other formed more communities. Creators gathered groups of users around their work. Whether they are blogger or journalists, musician or even developers, they formed groups which attracted users because of their values, the content they produce, or even the tools that were offered to the members of the community.

Up until now, _we monetized the web through attention_. The creators who were able to "steal" the most would be paid the most. We're obviously reaching the limits of that model. It is time to start considering that these communities have value for their members... and that these members actually want to contribute to their communities as well.

## A protocol for memberships

Unlock is a protocol for memberships. Creators have locks which define the terms of the membership (price, duration, quantity, or even currency!) and consumers can purchase keys to these locks.

In practice, that means that the protocol empowers creators (or anyone, really!) to create locks for their communities. It's an open protocol, so anyone can participate: there is no gatekeeper or middleman.

Locks themselves can be used for many different things, limiting access to content (paywall...), to features (software licenses...), or even status (patronage...).

## Leading by example!

We're putting [our money where our mouth is](/blog/crypto-first/). Starting today, we've added a lock to this website. We decided to **limit access to the comments** to the members of the community.

You can unlock your membership by clicking on the bar at the bottom below (we actually set a price of 0 Ether, so you only pay for gas fees). Once you have a key, you will be able to read and write comments.

An important thing to note is that once the transaction has been confirmed, you will receive a Non Fungible Token on your crypto wallet. Like any other token, it is yours, and you can sell it, using [OpenSea](https://opensea.io/), for example.


The Unlock protocol provides a way for people to show their support and access exclusive content, features, or even status. It is a web-native way for creators to monetize their work.

Monetizing creation by leveraging membership to communities

A Protocol for Membership

The difference between the web and native applications is the presence of links. These links are the reason why the web is a "network", as they connect pages together, making a graph. Google and its PageRank algorithm have leveraged that graph to rank websites, by assuming that the sites which have the most links are the most relevant.
<img src="/images/blog/protocol-for-memberships.png" alt="Use one Unlock lock for a variety of services and products.">
<h2>Memberships > Attention</h2>
However, since the beginning, these links have also formed communities. Websites which discuss the same topics tend to link to each other, creating de-facto communities of interest. The social web reinforced that trend: people following each other formed more communities. Creators gathered groups of users around their work. Whether they are blogger or journalists, musician or even developers, they formed groups which attracted users because of their values, the content they produce, or even the tools that were offered to the members of the community.
Up until now, we monetized the web through attention. The creators who were able to "steal" the most would be paid the most. We're obviously reaching the limits of that model. It is time to start considering that these communities have value for their members... and that these members actually want to contribute to their communities as well.
<h2>A protocol for memberships</h2>
Unlock is a protocol for memberships. Creators have locks which define the terms of the membership (price, duration, quantity, or even currency!) and consumers can purchase keys to these locks.
In practice, that means that the protocol empowers creators (or anyone, really!) to create locks for their communities. It's an open protocol, so anyone can participate: there is no gatekeeper or middleman.
Locks themselves can be used for many different things, limiting access to content (paywall...), to features (software licenses...), or even status (patronage...).
<h2>Leading by example!</h2>
We're putting <a href="/blog/crypto-first/">our money where our mouth is</a>. Starting today, we've added a lock to this website. We decided to limit access to the comments to the members of the community.
You can unlock your membership by clicking on the bar at the bottom below (we actually set a price of 0 Ether, so you only pay for gas fees). Once you have a key, you will be able to read and write comments.
An important thing to note is that once the transaction has been confirmed, you will receive a Non Fungible Token on your crypto wallet. Like any other token, it is yours, and you can sell it, using <a href="https://opensea.io/">OpenSea</a>, for example.

![Dashboard Lock](/images/blog/erc20-locks/use-dai.jpg)

When creators deploy their locks using our dashboard, they can chose the following:

- the name of their locks
- how long each key is valid (from seconds to centuries!)
- how many keys they are selling (with the ability to sell an unlimited amount)
- and more importantly, the price of keys

Up until today, the price of the keys had to be in Ether. Today, we're happy to announce that we now support any ERC20 token as the currency for the price. As a creator you can now sell access to your content or features inside of your (d)applications using BNB, MKR or even BAT...

## Using stable coins

Out of ERC20 tokens, there is a category of tokens which is special: stable coins. These tokens have a value that is designed to be stable, most often against US dollars. Some of them are actually backed by financial organizations who guarantee a 1 to 1 exchange (such as USDC for example), while others are based on onchain collaterals (DAI is a good example of that!), while finally, a 3rd category is based on seigniorage: the supply expands and retracts based on price fluctuations. Learn more about stable coins with [this overview](https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/) from Multicoin.

A lot of the creators that we spoke to were worried about the use of fluctuating currencies. If the price went down, they would lose some of their revenues, and if it went up, they were rightfully worried that their customers may not end up buying keys from them... as they could be waiting for appreciation of their tokens.

We believe that many locks will end up being priced using stable coins, which is why our dashboard UI will let creators pick DAI as the currency1.

## Bringing utility to utility coins!

We also strongly believe that many ERC20 currencies are "community" currencies. Their value is rooted in the fact that it is a very specific use. For example, MKR is a governance token which lets owners of it vote on changes in the Maker systems.

Now, nothing says that the MKR tokens, which are actively traded on several exchanges could not be used for other purposes, such as purchasing access keys. For example, Maker could organize a launch party for their upcoming multi-collateral currency where tickets are sold using MKR. For this, they could use Unlock's [ticket application](https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/)...

## Get started today

Head out to the [creator dashboard](https://unlock-protocol.com/) now and click on the _Create Lock_ Button:

![Create a Lock](/images/blog/erc20-locks/create-lock.png)

Then, select DAI as the currency when picking up a price:

![Create a Lock](/images/blog/erc20-locks/select-dai.png)

Choose how much you want to charge (you can still change that later, but not the currency...). And hit submit. Once that transaction has been mined, your lock has been deployed!

Once you have embedded the lock on your page, your readers are offered the ability to Unlock it:

![A DAI lock](/images/blog/erc20-locks/dai-lock.png)

When clicking on it, they are required to approve 2 transactions (the ERC20 could be a bit simpler... but we have ideas on how to solve that!):

1. They need to approve the lock to withdraw some of their DAI (just the amount for the key purchase!):

![Approve the ERC20 transfer](/images/blog/erc20-locks/approve-withdraw-erc20.png)

2. Actually purchase the key (the lock contract will withdraw the right ERC20 balance):

![Purchasing the key](/images/blog/erc20-locks/purchase-key.png)

Once the transaction as been confirmed, the customer will receive their non fungible token!

We're very excited about this release, because it opens the door to several other releases in the next coming weeks! Stay tuned ;)

1 Reach out if you need to deploy a lock using another ERC20 of your choice: we can help, even if we wanted to keep our UI minimalistic.

A lot of the creators that we spoke with were concerned by the volatile nature of Ether when using it to price their keys: we needed to support stable coins. The ERC20 standard is a way to create tokens which are all compatible, even though they may have different implementations.

Creators can chose any Ethereum based token when they sell keys to their locks.

Introducing ERC20 Locks

<img src="/images/blog/erc20-locks/use-dai.jpg" alt="Dashboard Lock">
When creators deploy their locks using our dashboard, they can chose the following:
<ul>
<li>the name of their locks</li>
<li>how long each key is valid (from seconds to centuries!)</li>
<li>how many keys they are selling (with the ability to sell an unlimited amount)</li>
<li>and more importantly, the price of keys</li>
</ul>
Up until today, the price of the keys had to be in Ether. Today, we're happy to announce that we now support any ERC20 token as the currency for the price. As a creator you can now sell access to your content or features inside of your (d)applications using BNB, MKR or even BAT...
<h2>Using stable coins</h2>
Out of ERC20 tokens, there is a category of tokens which is special: stable coins. These tokens have a value that is designed to be stable, most often against US dollars. Some of them are actually backed by financial organizations who guarantee a 1 to 1 exchange (such as USDC for example), while others are based on onchain collaterals (DAI is a good example of that!), while finally, a 3rd category is based on seigniorage: the supply expands and retracts based on price fluctuations. Learn more about stable coins with <a href="https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/">this overview</a> from Multicoin.
A lot of the creators that we spoke to were worried about the use of fluctuating currencies. If the price went down, they would lose some of their revenues, and if it went up, they were rightfully worried that their customers may not end up buying keys from them... as they could be waiting for appreciation of their tokens.
We believe that many locks will end up being priced using stable coins, which is why our dashboard UI will let creators pick DAI as the currency1.
<h2>Bringing utility to utility coins!</h2>
We also strongly believe that many ERC20 currencies are "community" currencies. Their value is rooted in the fact that it is a very specific use. For example, MKR is a governance token which lets owners of it vote on changes in the Maker systems.
Now, nothing says that the MKR tokens, which are actively traded on several exchanges could not be used for other purposes, such as purchasing access keys. For example, Maker could organize a launch party for their upcoming multi-collateral currency where tickets are sold using MKR. For this, they could use Unlock's <a href="https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/">ticket application</a>...
<h2>Get started today</h2>
Head out to the <a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/">creator dashboard</a> now and click on the Create Lock Button:
<img src="/images/blog/erc20-locks/create-lock.png" alt="Create a Lock">
Then, select DAI as the currency when picking up a price:
<img src="/images/blog/erc20-locks/select-dai.png" alt="Create a Lock">
Choose how much you want to charge (you can still change that later, but not the currency...). And hit submit. Once that transaction has been mined, your lock has been deployed!
Once you have embedded the lock on your page, your readers are offered the ability to Unlock it:
<img src="/images/blog/erc20-locks/dai-lock.png" alt="A DAI lock">
When clicking on it, they are required to approve 2 transactions (the ERC20 could be a bit simpler... but we have ideas on how to solve that!):
<ol>
<li>They need to approve the lock to withdraw some of their DAI (just the amount for the key purchase!):</li>
</ol>
<img src="/images/blog/erc20-locks/approve-withdraw-erc20.png" alt="Approve the ERC20 transfer">
<ol start="2">
<li>Actually purchase the key (the lock contract will withdraw the right ERC20 balance):</li>
</ol>
<img src="/images/blog/erc20-locks/purchase-key.png" alt="Purchasing the key">
Once the transaction as been confirmed, the customer will receive their non fungible token!
We're very excited about this release, because it opens the door to several other releases in the next coming weeks! Stay tuned ;)
1 Reach out if you need to deploy a lock using another ERC20 of your choice: we can help, even if we wanted to keep our UI minimalistic.


![Use one Unlock lock for a variety of services and products.](/images/blog/multiuselocks/hero.jpg)

One incredibly powerful thing about using Unlock is that one key can access anything that's behind a lock it has access to. That means you can place the same lock in multiple places or even use it for different purposes (as we did) and let a user who as that one key access everything. So what did we do?

![The NFT Dev Meetup ticket page.](/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-ticket-page.jpg)

We sold tickets to the NFT Dev Meetup during NYC Blockchain Week through [our ticket app](https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/event/0x5865Ff2CBd045Ef1cfE19739df19E83B32b783b4) (still in beta) and then allowed ticket holders to also access [the livestream of the event](https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/nft-dev-meetup/).

Without Unlock, complicated. With Unlock piece of cake.

We created a lock on the Unlock dashboard …

![The NFT events lock on the dashboard.](/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-lock-dashboard.jpg)

We used that lock to create a ticket page …

![Creating an event page with the lock.](/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-event-creation.jpg)

… and then used the embed code from that same lock on [the event blog post](https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/nft-dev-meetup/).

![The lock's embed code.](/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-lock-embed.jpg)

Checkout the [tickets page](https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/event/0x5865Ff2CBd045Ef1cfE19739df19E83B32b783b4) and [the locked blog post](https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/nft-dev-meetup/) with the event video. Want to really try it out? You can still buy a ticket to unlock the video (disclaimer: the sound isn’t great – and it mostly serves as proof of concept for locking the page).

Want to do this for your event or content? [We’re all ears!](mailto:hello@unlock-protocol.com)


Find out how a single key together with your wallet can unlock anything from tickets to content.

One key can serve many purposes

Multi Use Locks

<img src="/images/blog/multiuselocks/hero.jpg" alt="Use one Unlock lock for a variety of services and products.">
One incredibly powerful thing about using Unlock is that one key can access anything that's behind a lock it has access to. That means you can place the same lock in multiple places or even use it for different purposes (as we did) and let a user who as that one key access everything. So what did we do?
<img src="/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-ticket-page.jpg" alt="The NFT Dev Meetup ticket page.">
We sold tickets to the NFT Dev Meetup during NYC Blockchain Week through <a href="https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/event/0x5865Ff2CBd045Ef1cfE19739df19E83B32b783b4">our ticket app</a> (still in beta) and then allowed ticket holders to also access <a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/nft-dev-meetup/">the livestream of the event</a>.
Without Unlock, complicated. With Unlock piece of cake.
We created a lock on the Unlock dashboard …
<img src="/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-lock-dashboard.jpg" alt="The NFT events lock on the dashboard.">
We used that lock to create a ticket page …
<img src="/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-event-creation.jpg" alt="Creating an event page with the lock.">
… and then used the embed code from that same lock on <a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/nft-dev-meetup/">the event blog post</a>.
<img src="/images/blog/multiuselocks/nft-lock-embed.jpg" alt="The lock&#x27;s embed code.">
Checkout the <a href="https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/event/0x5865Ff2CBd045Ef1cfE19739df19E83B32b783b4">tickets page</a> and <a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/nft-dev-meetup/">the locked blog post</a> with the event video. Want to really try it out? You can still buy a ticket to unlock the video (disclaimer: the sound isn’t great – and it mostly serves as proof of concept for locking the page).
Want to do this for your event or content? <a href="mailto:hello@unlock-protocol.com">We’re all ears!</a>

![Optimistic Unlocking in action.](/images/blog/nftdevmeetup/hero.jpg)

We’re doing something different! By now you’ve probably been to a few too many after-parties. Let's not even talk about Consensus - did you see how packed the hallways were?

Instead, we’re going to have an informal gameshow party where we pit eight blockchain fanatics against each other to debate fiery topics from within the industry. All in good fun and all for laughs!

Meet us at 6:30PM on May 16th, at the Bushwick Generator.

If you need any help (or Eth) to purchase your ticket, please get in touch with us via the Telegram group below.

Bushwick Generator, 215 Moore St, Brooklyn

<figure class="video_container">
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qq4bBs-zPZw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</figure>

More info and a livestream for registred participants.

Livestream of the NFT Dev Meetup

NFT Dev Meetup

<img src="/images/blog/nftdevmeetup/hero.jpg" alt="Optimistic Unlocking in action.">
We’re doing something different! By now you’ve probably been to a few too many after-parties. Let's not even talk about Consensus - did you see how packed the hallways were?
Instead, we’re going to have an informal gameshow party where we pit eight blockchain fanatics against each other to debate fiery topics from within the industry. All in good fun and all for laughs!
Meet us at 6:30PM on May 16th, at the Bushwick Generator.
If you need any help (or Eth) to purchase your ticket, please get in touch with us via the Telegram group below.
Bushwick Generator, 215 Moore St, Brooklyn
<figure class="video_container">
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qq4bBs-zPZw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</figure>


![NFT meetup during crypto week 2019](https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.unlock-protocol.com/NFTEventLogos.png)

We are mission driven: we strongly believe that the [web's business model is broken](https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/ad-supported-web/), but more importantly, that it can be replaced with a [much healthier one](https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/its-time-to-unlock-the-web/), and we're building it, key after key, lock after lock.

As technologists, we also know that _dogfooding_ is important: it's by using the technology we build that we can understand it better. We are building new mental models as we actually experience these new products and protocols.

For example, we strongly believe that the Unlock Protocol can be used to **sell tickets** to concerts, conferences, or parties. To test that hypothesis, we are co-organizing an event here, in NYC during blockchain week, with our friends at [Dapper Labs](https://www.dapperlabs.com/), [OpenSea](https://opensea.io/), [SuperRare](https://superrare.co/) or [Quantstamp](https://quantstamp.com/).

We’re going to have an informal gameshow party where we pit eight blockchain fanatics (us!) against each other to debate fiery topics from within the industry. All in good fun and all for laughs: you [should get a ticket](https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/event/0x5865Ff2CBd045Ef1cfE19739df19E83B32b783b4)!

As you've understood by now, this event is locked by a lock, at [0x5865ff2cbd045ef1cfe19739df19e83b32b783b4](https://etherscan.io/address/0x5865ff2cbd045ef1cfe19739df19e83b32b783b4). When you purchase a ticket, you actually acquire a Non Fungible Token, which you could trade on OpenSea, for example...

Of course, this is a fairly new experience, but if you already have your crypto wallet (hint: you should!), then, it is actually a lot more straightforward than getting using one of the "legacy" ticket companies: we do not ask for anything and no need to type these 16 credit card digits.
Now that you own a NFT, your ticket (or your key as we call it), on top of being tradable, can also be used to unlock more things with the same lock!

We'd love to see you there, and, maybe even more importantly to hear your feedback. What are things we should make better?


At Unlock, like many in the crypto and blockchain world, we believe that a better web is possible... and we're building it. But we also understand that dreaming and building is not enough.

Be the change you want to see in the world

Crypto First

<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.unlock-protocol.com/NFTEventLogos.png" alt="NFT meetup during crypto week 2019">
We are mission driven: we strongly believe that the <a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/ad-supported-web/">web's business model is broken</a>, but more importantly, that it can be replaced with a <a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/blog/its-time-to-unlock-the-web/">much healthier one</a>, and we're building it, key after key, lock after lock.
As technologists, we also know that dogfooding is important: it's by using the technology we build that we can understand it better. We are building new mental models as we actually experience these new products and protocols.
For example, we strongly believe that the Unlock Protocol can be used to sell tickets to concerts, conferences, or parties. To test that hypothesis, we are co-organizing an event here, in NYC during blockchain week, with our friends at <a href="https://www.dapperlabs.com/">Dapper Labs</a>, <a href="https://opensea.io/">OpenSea</a>, <a href="https://superrare.co/">SuperRare</a> or <a href="https://quantstamp.com/">Quantstamp</a>.
We’re going to have an informal gameshow party where we pit eight blockchain fanatics (us!) against each other to debate fiery topics from within the industry. All in good fun and all for laughs: you <a href="https://tickets.unlock-protocol.com/event/0x5865Ff2CBd045Ef1cfE19739df19E83B32b783b4">should get a ticket</a>!
As you've understood by now, this event is locked by a lock, at <a href="https://etherscan.io/address/0x5865ff2cbd045ef1cfe19739df19e83b32b783b4">0x5865ff2cbd045ef1cfe19739df19e83b32b783b4</a>. When you purchase a ticket, you actually acquire a Non Fungible Token, which you could trade on OpenSea, for example...
Of course, this is a fairly new experience, but if you already have your crypto wallet (hint: you should!), then, it is actually a lot more straightforward than getting using one of the "legacy" ticket companies: we do not ask for anything and no need to type these 16 credit card digits.
Now that you own a NFT, your ticket (or your key as we call it), on top of being tradable, can also be used to unlock more things with the same lock!
We'd love to see you there, and, maybe even more importantly to hear your feedback. What are things we should make better?


![Optimistic Unlocking in action.](/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/hero.jpg)

At Unlock we’re all about making transactions on the web seamless and effortless. Blockchain transactions have lots of incredible features, from low cost to permissionless, but the strong suit of blockchain technology – its safety features around immutable data also means every transaction needs to be confirmed by miners. This can take time. Generally Ethereum transactions are considered final after they’ve been confirmed by 12 miners, which can take a few minutes and longer depending on how busy the network is. This presents 2 challenges: not only is this slow, but it is very hard to predict accurately.

The reason we do this is to ensure that funds aren’t double spent (accidentally or purposefully). Theoretically users could spend their Ether in one place and while that transaction is still being confirmed spend it in another place. In this instance the transaction that’s confirmed first would go through and the other would fail.

![Optimistic Unlocking in action.](/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/locked.jpg)

One of our core beliefs is that the challenge most creators are facing is not so much fraud than it is friction. Increasing conversion rates will have a much larger impact on their revenue than fighting the rare cases of fraud. So instead of adding friction or delays to all of the benevolent users in order to stop a few fraudsters, we believe it’s much more beneficial to make it easier to unlock content, even if that means that a small number of people will find ways to “cheat” creators by a few dollars.

We want to trust people! And we’re optimistic that they actually want the content and are willing to pay for it fair and square. Meet Optimistic Unlocking!

We’re working on an algorithm that will determine if a transaction is likely to go through or not, based on the user's balance, their previous transactions, and a few other factors. If it’s likely to go through, the content immediately unlocks while it’s still being mined and confirmed in the background. We display a status bar and notifications, and a confirmation once the transaction went through.

![Optimistic Unlocking in action.](/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/confirming.jpg)

A confirmed purchase will soon show a new flag with the duration of your subscription and let you click through to your keychain where you can review your purchases.

![Optimistic Unlocking in action.](/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/subscribed.jpg)

Should something unexpected happen – like the transaction is taking longer than usual to be confirmed, as would happen if funds were accidentally double spent, the content gets automatically locked again. The user is informed that there was an issue with the transaction and is led through the default purchase flow.

We could also detect new transactions sent by users with a pending transaction, and immediately re-lock the content because we then know that their key purchase is likely to not go through!

If the algorithm determined this is a transaction that is unlikely to be confirmed (hopefully a rare case), the user is presented with the default purchase flow where they have to wait for the transaction to be confirmed by 12 miners. Not the worst of scenarios - it just requires a bit of patience.

![Optimistic Unlocking in action.](/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/stages.jpg)

In a nutshell, Optimistic Unlocking makes the entire purchasing experience better by allowing instant unlocking while still maintaining a high degree of security. A much nicer user experience gives users more freedom and creators more conversion, all with minimal risk.

That’s Optimistic Unlocking – and one step towards our bigger goal of removing barriers in the purchasing flow. We hope you find this mechanism just as exciting and useful as we do and we’d love to hear from you – email us, or join the conversation on telegram.


Introducing Optimistic Unlocking, which overcomes the slow confirmation times and provides a better user experience for blockchain transactions.

Creating a smoother, faster and a more secure online purchase experience

Hello Optimistic Unlocking

<img src="/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/hero.jpg" alt="Optimistic Unlocking in action.">
At Unlock we’re all about making transactions on the web seamless and effortless. Blockchain transactions have lots of incredible features, from low cost to permissionless, but the strong suit of blockchain technology – its safety features around immutable data also means every transaction needs to be confirmed by miners. This can take time. Generally Ethereum transactions are considered final after they’ve been confirmed by 12 miners, which can take a few minutes and longer depending on how busy the network is. This presents 2 challenges: not only is this slow, but it is very hard to predict accurately.
The reason we do this is to ensure that funds aren’t double spent (accidentally or purposefully). Theoretically users could spend their Ether in one place and while that transaction is still being confirmed spend it in another place. In this instance the transaction that’s confirmed first would go through and the other would fail.
<img src="/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/locked.jpg" alt="Optimistic Unlocking in action.">
One of our core beliefs is that the challenge most creators are facing is not so much fraud than it is friction. Increasing conversion rates will have a much larger impact on their revenue than fighting the rare cases of fraud. So instead of adding friction or delays to all of the benevolent users in order to stop a few fraudsters, we believe it’s much more beneficial to make it easier to unlock content, even if that means that a small number of people will find ways to “cheat” creators by a few dollars.
We want to trust people! And we’re optimistic that they actually want the content and are willing to pay for it fair and square. Meet Optimistic Unlocking!
We’re working on an algorithm that will determine if a transaction is likely to go through or not, based on the user's balance, their previous transactions, and a few other factors. If it’s likely to go through, the content immediately unlocks while it’s still being mined and confirmed in the background. We display a status bar and notifications, and a confirmation once the transaction went through.
<img src="/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/confirming.jpg" alt="Optimistic Unlocking in action.">
A confirmed purchase will soon show a new flag with the duration of your subscription and let you click through to your keychain where you can review your purchases.
<img src="/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/subscribed.jpg" alt="Optimistic Unlocking in action.">
Should something unexpected happen – like the transaction is taking longer than usual to be confirmed, as would happen if funds were accidentally double spent, the content gets automatically locked again. The user is informed that there was an issue with the transaction and is led through the default purchase flow.
We could also detect new transactions sent by users with a pending transaction, and immediately re-lock the content because we then know that their key purchase is likely to not go through!
If the algorithm determined this is a transaction that is unlikely to be confirmed (hopefully a rare case), the user is presented with the default purchase flow where they have to wait for the transaction to be confirmed by 12 miners. Not the worst of scenarios - it just requires a bit of patience.
<img src="/images/blog/hellooptimisticunlocking/stages.jpg" alt="Optimistic Unlocking in action.">
In a nutshell, Optimistic Unlocking makes the entire purchasing experience better by allowing instant unlocking while still maintaining a high degree of security. A much nicer user experience gives users more freedom and creators more conversion, all with minimal risk.
That’s Optimistic Unlocking – and one step towards our bigger goal of removing barriers in the purchasing flow. We hope you find this mechanism just as exciting and useful as we do and we’d love to hear from you – email us, or join the conversation on telegram.


![ocean scene](/images/blog/waystounlocktheweb/hero.jpg)

Imagine if paying for content had been built into the web from day one.

A few days ago, Julien Genestoux wrote [an introduction to Unlock](/blog/what-is-unlock): a decentralized, permission-less protocol that allows anyone to sell access to their work. It’s a great high-level introduction to our philosophy and approach. Hopefully, it also explains why Unlock is such a radical idea; something that has never been built on the web before. If you haven’t read it, [it’s a great place to start](/blog/what-is-unlock).

In this post, we’ll bring it down to earth. Now that we’ve explored the implications of an open protocol for payments — what can you do with Unlock?

Here are just a few examples.

## An open paywall

As publishers move away from advertising-based business models, they’re increasingly looking to replace ads with direct revenue. Paywalls are the most common way to do this.

![paywall screenshot](/images/blog/waystounlocktheweb/paywalldesktop.png)

Let’s say you’re a writer who publishes on your own site, independently. Most of your content is free, but some of your content is so valuable to a particular group of people — maybe you analyze the tech industry, or you’ve got a unique insight into the future of journalism — that you know some people will pay for it. By adding a hard paywall, you give your readers a small preview of that content, but require them to pay to access the whole thing.

Or, you’re the largest newspapers in the world. Newsrooms across the world, from the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/) to [Die Zeit](https://www.zeit.de/index), use paywalls to meter access to their content and drive membership revenue. You could set up a hard paywall and require payment for all content — or you could require payment after a user has read four or five articles.

As a publisher, you could negotiate with a paywall solutions provider, or work with a payments processor. The process could take months and cost you tens of thousands of dollars. In contrast, Unlock doesn’t require you to ask anyone for permission, and you can start taking payments on your content in just a handful of minutes.

This is the first application we’ve built using Unlock. It’s live right now. In fact, if you have [Metamask](https://metamask.io/) installed, you can try it yourself on [Julien’s site](https://www.ouvre-boite.com/members/), and [on my own](https://werd.io/2019/testing-the-unlock-paywall--protocolcom). In both cases, we’ll double any money spent and donate it to [she256](https://www.she256.io/).

## Recognizing your community

Let’s say you’re running a local newsroom. You produce journalism in the public interest, so you don’t want to lock your content away with a paywall — but you want to give your readers who can afford it the opportunity to support you. To be clear, you _need_ that support.

Instead of a paywall, you place a patronage ribbon on your site. Visitors with the means can support you — and you can display their names (if they want). With this kind of patronage, you get revenue, and your supporters are publicly recognized in their community for having supported an important resource. It’s win-win.

Just as with the paywall, there’s no need to sign up for an account somewhere, or wait to be approved for a patronage service that will take a hefty cut. You can build this level of community reward right into your website, either by embedding a patronage widget from us or another host, or by integrating directly with the protocol using your own code.

This model [has worked well for the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2018/nov/12/katharine-viner-guardian-million-reader-funding) and Wikipedia, among others, and Unlock makes it available to everyone. We’ll be releasing our patronage widget soon, but anyone can build one on top of the Unlock protocol today.

## Licensing software

Unlock isn’t just for content. The same principle that makes a paywall work can be used for software licensing. As an independent developer, I can allow you to unlock a license for my application in just one click, without having to depend on a centralized provider — or giving them a giant 30% cut. Because Unlock is a permission-less, decentralized protocol, developers get to keep 100% of the price of a license, and there’s no approval or banning process.

Unlock allows you to experiment with revenue models. Maybe licenses or subscriptions aren’t right for you —every business is different. You could use patronage to allow your community to support development. Developers could choose to automatically embed the names of supporters on their websites or GitHub pages.

Most importantly, you don’t need to fit someone else’s service into your software user experience. You can use the Unlock protocol to built a licensing or support system that fits right into what you’ve already built.

## Selling tickets to your hot event

Imagine you’re running an arts event in your town. You want to take home 100% of the ticket price, but you also want to customize the ticket buying process: the standard form just isn’t going to cut it. It’s got to be unique to you — and it’s got to capture exactly the information you need to give the attendee a personalized experience.

You’re in luck. Just as Unlock isn’t just for content, it’s not just for access to the digital world, either.

Unlock can be used to sell tickets to real-world events. Attendees purchase “keys” to attend, from the event’s own website — and then show up with a QR code representing the key at the event itself. (Who knew QR codes would come in handy after all?) Event hosts can check people in using a very similar mechanism to other event services.

Most importantly, because Unlock is an open protocol, you don’t need to use our event app. Anyone can write an event service or app on top of the protocol. That means each kind of event, or each event owner, can run their own code (and capture attendee data) that best suits their context.

## Reaching a premium newsletter audience

Finally, Unlock can be used to create premium newsletters. Email is a decentralized open standard, so paid newsletters should be too. Best of all, mailing list owners can continue to use the email service of their choice.

Here, readers buy a “key” to the mailing list, leaving their email address as part of the process. All it takes is one click. At any time, the mailing list owner can export the complete list of email addresses, and import it into Mailchimp, HubSpot, or whatever they use for mailing lists (including their own software).

The result is that paid newsletters can use an ecosystem of different apps and services, rather than squeeze themselves into a one-size-fits-all model.

## And more

The beauty of Unlock is that you can think of our initial apps as proofs of concept. The only limit is what you can build: the open protocol will be there for you. And if you just want a friction-less service that works really well, with the bare minimum of setup and technical integration, we’ll provide a great suite of apps which meets that need.

We’re always interested in hearing from you. If you have questions or comments, reach out to us at [hello@unlock-protocol.com](mailto:hello@unlock-protocol.com).


We’re building an open protocol to allow anyone on the web to earn money from their work. The possibilities are endless. Here are some of them.

Ways to Unlock the Web

<img src="/images/blog/waystounlocktheweb/hero.jpg" alt="ocean scene">
Imagine if paying for content had been built into the web from day one.
A few days ago, Julien Genestoux wrote <a href="/blog/what-is-unlock">an introduction to Unlock</a>: a decentralized, permission-less protocol that allows anyone to sell access to their work. It’s a great high-level introduction to our philosophy and approach. Hopefully, it also explains why Unlock is such a radical idea; something that has never been built on the web before. If you haven’t read it, <a href="/blog/what-is-unlock">it’s a great place to start</a>.
In this post, we’ll bring it down to earth. Now that we’ve explored the implications of an open protocol for payments — what can you do with Unlock?
Here are just a few examples.
<h2>An open paywall</h2>
As publishers move away from advertising-based business models, they’re increasingly looking to replace ads with direct revenue. Paywalls are the most common way to do this.
<img src="/images/blog/waystounlocktheweb/paywalldesktop.png" alt="paywall screenshot">
Let’s say you’re a writer who publishes on your own site, independently. Most of your content is free, but some of your content is so valuable to a particular group of people — maybe you analyze the tech industry, or you’ve got a unique insight into the future of journalism — that you know some people will pay for it. By adding a hard paywall, you give your readers a small preview of that content, but require them to pay to access the whole thing.
Or, you’re the largest newspapers in the world. Newsrooms across the world, from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a> to <a href="https://www.zeit.de/index">Die Zeit</a>, use paywalls to meter access to their content and drive membership revenue. You could set up a hard paywall and require payment for all content — or you could require payment after a user has read four or five articles.
As a publisher, you could negotiate with a paywall solutions provider, or work with a payments processor. The process could take months and cost you tens of thousands of dollars. In contrast, Unlock doesn’t require you to ask anyone for permission, and you can start taking payments on your content in just a handful of minutes.
This is the first application we’ve built using Unlock. It’s live right now. In fact, if you have <a href="https://metamask.io/">Metamask</a> installed, you can try it yourself on <a href="https://www.ouvre-boite.com/members/">Julien’s site</a>, and <a href="https://werd.io/2019/testing-the-unlock-paywall--protocolcom">on my own</a>. In both cases, we’ll double any money spent and donate it to <a href="https://www.she256.io/">she256</a>.
<h2>Recognizing your community</h2>
Let’s say you’re running a local newsroom. You produce journalism in the public interest, so you don’t want to lock your content away with a paywall — but you want to give your readers who can afford it the opportunity to support you. To be clear, you need that support.
Instead of a paywall, you place a patronage ribbon on your site. Visitors with the means can support you — and you can display their names (if they want). With this kind of patronage, you get revenue, and your supporters are publicly recognized in their community for having supported an important resource. It’s win-win.
Just as with the paywall, there’s no need to sign up for an account somewhere, or wait to be approved for a patronage service that will take a hefty cut. You can build this level of community reward right into your website, either by embedding a patronage widget from us or another host, or by integrating directly with the protocol using your own code.
This model <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2018/nov/12/katharine-viner-guardian-million-reader-funding">has worked well for the Guardian</a> and Wikipedia, among others, and Unlock makes it available to everyone. We’ll be releasing our patronage widget soon, but anyone can build one on top of the Unlock protocol today.
<h2>Licensing software</h2>
Unlock isn’t just for content. The same principle that makes a paywall work can be used for software licensing. As an independent developer, I can allow you to unlock a license for my application in just one click, without having to depend on a centralized provider — or giving them a giant 30% cut. Because Unlock is a permission-less, decentralized protocol, developers get to keep 100% of the price of a license, and there’s no approval or banning process.
Unlock allows you to experiment with revenue models. Maybe licenses or subscriptions aren’t right for you —every business is different. You could use patronage to allow your community to support development. Developers could choose to automatically embed the names of supporters on their websites or GitHub pages.
Most importantly, you don’t need to fit someone else’s service into your software user experience. You can use the Unlock protocol to built a licensing or support system that fits right into what you’ve already built.
<h2>Selling tickets to your hot event</h2>
Imagine you’re running an arts event in your town. You want to take home 100% of the ticket price, but you also want to customize the ticket buying process: the standard form just isn’t going to cut it. It’s got to be unique to you — and it’s got to capture exactly the information you need to give the attendee a personalized experience.
You’re in luck. Just as Unlock isn’t just for content, it’s not just for access to the digital world, either.
Unlock can be used to sell tickets to real-world events. Attendees purchase “keys” to attend, from the event’s own website — and then show up with a QR code representing the key at the event itself. (Who knew QR codes would come in handy after all?) Event hosts can check people in using a very similar mechanism to other event services.
Most importantly, because Unlock is an open protocol, you don’t need to use our event app. Anyone can write an event service or app on top of the protocol. That means each kind of event, or each event owner, can run their own code (and capture attendee data) that best suits their context.
<h2>Reaching a premium newsletter audience</h2>
Finally, Unlock can be used to create premium newsletters. Email is a decentralized open standard, so paid newsletters should be too. Best of all, mailing list owners can continue to use the email service of their choice.
Here, readers buy a “key” to the mailing list, leaving their email address as part of the process. All it takes is one click. At any time, the mailing list owner can export the complete list of email addresses, and import it into Mailchimp, HubSpot, or whatever they use for mailing lists (including their own software).
The result is that paid newsletters can use an ecosystem of different apps and services, rather than squeeze themselves into a one-size-fits-all model.
<h2>And more</h2>
The beauty of Unlock is that you can think of our initial apps as proofs of concept. The only limit is what you can build: the open protocol will be there for you. And if you just want a friction-less service that works really well, with the bare minimum of setup and technical integration, we’ll provide a great suite of apps which meets that need.
We’re always interested in hearing from you. If you have questions or comments, reach out to us at <a href="mailto:hello@unlock-protocol.com">hello@unlock-protocol.com</a>.


If you’ve read our words, you probably rightfully think that the thing we’re building at Unlock is some kind of new
paywall system. This is true, but it is also only the tip of the iceberg: we’re building a protocol to lock and unlock
“things”.

![locks](/images/blog/whatisunlock.jpg)

The [web needs a new business model](https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/its-time-to-unlock-the-web-b98e9b94add1). A
business model is generally how an organization generates revenues AND makes a profit. So far, the business model of
the web has generally been to show ads to users in order to influence their choices. This is
[not working anymore](https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/the-end-of-the-ad-supported-web-d4d093fb462f) because this
model does not sustain creation, creates massive privacy concerns, incentivizes division and hate, or centralizes power
in the hands of a few.

This lead us to believe that since “asking for someone else to pay” was a dangerous path, we could take look at a
simpler approach: “asking the consumer to pay”. The next question becomes “how?”. On the web, most things that people
consume have a marginal cost that tends toward 0. For example, I’ll spent the time writing this post, whether 10,000 or
10,001 people read it. Similarly, whether you listen to 1,000 or 1,001 songs on a music streaming service does not make
a difference, or whether you read 10 more messages a day on chat service has the same cost. The consequence of this is
that, contrary to many things in the physical world, the web native way of paying is to gain access, or to unlock. You
pay for the right to listen to music (1 or 10,000 songs), you pay to access all the stories behind a paywall, or to use
features in a given application.

At its core, our team is building a way for creators to provide access to their premium creations for paying consumers.

One of the key characteristics of the web is that it is, mostly, an open platform. There are no gatekeepers, middlemen
or contract to agree to when building a website or web application. If we are to build an “access control” layer for
the web, we need to do that in a decentralized way, as a “shared protocol”. A protocol is a set of rules that define
how different software platforms and applications can communicate with each other to achieve a specific goal. For
example, HTTP is a protocol which lets anyone create a website without asking someone else’s permission, but while
still making sure that this website can be accessed through any web browser, crawled by search engines… etc.

Why a protocol? Because _nobody owns a protocol and yet, everyone benefits from it_. This is the “permission-less”
aspect of innovation which we think has been so tremendously impactful for the web. Nobody owns HTTP, but it is
available for everyone to use.

Building a protocol is a guarantee that we, ourselves, do not become gatekeepers or control the fate of millions of
websites, web applications and businesses.

By building a protocol, we also make it possible for other individuals, teams and businesses to “adopt” our vision and
make it theirs, without requiring us to approve or even be able to impact their roadmaps. This is important, because
it allows us to reconcile the fact that we’re building something universal, even if we, despite our best efforts, have
our own biases and blind spots. Other people will build different products and businesses for different users, using
different strategies, on top of the same shared infrastructure: the protocol.

We hope this answers some questions… and that it raises even more! In a future post, we’ll give a few examples of
applications which we are building to showcase the protocol, or applications that we think other folks should build.


Why we’re building a business model as an open protocol.

Or, why we’re building a business model as an open protocol.

What is Unlock?

If you’ve read our words, you probably rightfully think that the thing we’re building at Unlock is some kind of new
paywall system. This is true, but it is also only the tip of the iceberg: we’re building a protocol to lock and unlock
“things”.
<img src="/images/blog/whatisunlock.jpg" alt="locks">
The <a href="https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/its-time-to-unlock-the-web-b98e9b94add1">web needs a new business model</a>. A
business model is generally how an organization generates revenues AND makes a profit. So far, the business model of
the web has generally been to show ads to users in order to influence their choices. This is
<a href="https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/the-end-of-the-ad-supported-web-d4d093fb462f">not working anymore</a> because this
model does not sustain creation, creates massive privacy concerns, incentivizes division and hate, or centralizes power
in the hands of a few.
This lead us to believe that since “asking for someone else to pay” was a dangerous path, we could take look at a
simpler approach: “asking the consumer to pay”. The next question becomes “how?”. On the web, most things that people
consume have a marginal cost that tends toward 0. For example, I’ll spent the time writing this post, whether 10,000 or
10,001 people read it. Similarly, whether you listen to 1,000 or 1,001 songs on a music streaming service does not make
a difference, or whether you read 10 more messages a day on chat service has the same cost. The consequence of this is
that, contrary to many things in the physical world, the web native way of paying is to gain access, or to unlock. You
pay for the right to listen to music (1 or 10,000 songs), you pay to access all the stories behind a paywall, or to use
features in a given application.
At its core, our team is building a way for creators to provide access to their premium creations for paying consumers.
One of the key characteristics of the web is that it is, mostly, an open platform. There are no gatekeepers, middlemen
or contract to agree to when building a website or web application. If we are to build an “access control” layer for
the web, we need to do that in a decentralized way, as a “shared protocol”. A protocol is a set of rules that define
how different software platforms and applications can communicate with each other to achieve a specific goal. For
example, HTTP is a protocol which lets anyone create a website without asking someone else’s permission, but while
still making sure that this website can be accessed through any web browser, crawled by search engines… etc.
Why a protocol? Because nobody owns a protocol and yet, everyone benefits from it. This is the “permission-less”
aspect of innovation which we think has been so tremendously impactful for the web. Nobody owns HTTP, but it is
available for everyone to use.
Building a protocol is a guarantee that we, ourselves, do not become gatekeepers or control the fate of millions of
websites, web applications and businesses.
By building a protocol, we also make it possible for other individuals, teams and businesses to “adopt” our vision and
make it theirs, without requiring us to approve or even be able to impact their roadmaps. This is important, because
it allows us to reconcile the fact that we’re building something universal, even if we, despite our best efforts, have
our own biases and blind spots. Other people will build different products and businesses for different users, using
different strategies, on top of the same shared infrastructure: the protocol.
We hope this answers some questions… and that it raises even more! In a future post, we’ll give a few examples of
applications which we are building to showcase the protocol, or applications that we think other folks should build.


[Targeted advertising was the original sin of the web](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/advertising-is-the-internets-original-sin/376041/). For years, the accepted business model for consumer startups was to grow exponentially at breakneck speed. Their services were optimized to lure users into spending as much time on them as possible, as regularly as possible: an addictive behavior euphemistically referred to as “engagement”. And because highly targeted advertisements were worth more, those same services were incentivized to collect as much intimate information about their users as possible.

It’s called surveillance capitalism. The bad news is that most modern internet services have been built this way. But the good news is that [the pendulum is swinging](https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/the-end-of-the-ad-supported-web-d4d093fb462f).

Across the world, people — and their governments, through legislation like GDPR — are demanding more respectful services, with hard limits on user surveillance and targeted advertising. It’s become common knowledge that if you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold. And in a world where targeted advertising has helped swing elections and destabilize societies, the tide is continuing to turn.

Startups, publishers, and creators need a strong alternative that meets these new user demands. At Unlock, we’re building a new way for them to make money on this new, more respectful web.

## The Unlock Protocol

[Unlock is a decentralized protocol](https://unlock-protocol.com/), built on the Ethereum blockchain, that will allow any creator to charge for access to their work. There’s no company standing in the middle, choosing who can monetize or be discovered, and there’s no need to gather any personal data at all.

While we’re building this protocol, there’s no need to adopt our code or services to use it. It’s free to integrate it into your websites and products, just as other open standards like HTML or email are, and we don’t take any kind of cut from any transactions. In fact, by design, we can’t. Our aim is to set the standard for services that use the protocol, and kickstart a rich ecosystem of developers, vendors and customers.

While you can use our services, [all our code is open source](https://github.com/unlock-protocol/unlock) and free to self-host —which is why today’s release is so important.

## Version 0

Today we’re releasing our proof of concept for a decentralized paywall based on the Unlock Protocol.

This first release is aimed at technical, blockchain-aware web publishers whose audiences are also already using decentralized apps. Each of these users has probably got [Metamask](https://metamask.io/) installed in their browser. They’re early adopters at the frontier of the decentralized web.

![new lock interface](/images/blog/announcingv0/newlock.png)

These publishers can create a _lock_, and set a price for content that is protected by it, as well as how long customers will have access to it for. Then, using a few lines of code, they can embed an easy-to-use paywall which uses that lock anywhere on the web. Finally, users can buy a _key_ to unlock the lock at the price the publisher set, for the duration publishers allow.

![paywall demo](/images/blog/announcingv0/paywalldemo.png)

For members of their early-adopter audience, all it takes is one click and a confirmation from their cryptocurrency wallet, and they can access the content.

It’s a lightweight proof-of-concept for the protocol, but it’s also a useful proof-of-concept for publishers. There’s no need to go through an expensive paywall provider: anyone on the web can sell their content without asking anyone else for permission.

Of course, it’s early days. We don’t recommend using this at scale quite yet. And it’s limited to users who are _au fait_ with cryptocurrencies. But we think it’s an exciting first step.

[You can deploy your first lock right here.](https://unlock-protocol.com/) If you decide to embed it on your website or blog, please drop us a line. We would love to learn from you.

(Also, this goes for any decentralized app, but please make sure you withdraw from your lock fairly regularly. Funds are safer when they’re stored in a wallet than sitting on a smart contract.)

You can purchase a key to a lock on [this test blog post by Julien](https://www.ouvre-boite.com/members/) or [this one by Ben](https://werd.io/2019/testing-the-unlock-paywall--protocolcom). We’ll donate double the proceeds from any tests and send them to [She256](https://www.she256.io/).

The genie isn’t getting back in the box. [Anyone who reads a newspaper or stays on top of Twitter knows that the prevailing business model of the web _will_ change.](https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/the-end-of-the-ad-supported-web-d4d093fb462f) It’s up to all of us to try and make it one that works for everyone, instead of a small number of gatekeepers. This release is our first step on that path.


We’re changing the business model for the web. It starts here, today.

Announcing Unlock Version Zero

<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/advertising-is-the-internets-original-sin/376041/">Targeted advertising was the original sin of the web</a>. For years, the accepted business model for consumer startups was to grow exponentially at breakneck speed. Their services were optimized to lure users into spending as much time on them as possible, as regularly as possible: an addictive behavior euphemistically referred to as “engagement”. And because highly targeted advertisements were worth more, those same services were incentivized to collect as much intimate information about their users as possible.
It’s called surveillance capitalism. The bad news is that most modern internet services have been built this way. But the good news is that <a href="https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/the-end-of-the-ad-supported-web-d4d093fb462f">the pendulum is swinging</a>.
Across the world, people — and their governments, through legislation like GDPR — are demanding more respectful services, with hard limits on user surveillance and targeted advertising. It’s become common knowledge that if you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold. And in a world where targeted advertising has helped swing elections and destabilize societies, the tide is continuing to turn.
Startups, publishers, and creators need a strong alternative that meets these new user demands. At Unlock, we’re building a new way for them to make money on this new, more respectful web.
<h2>The Unlock Protocol</h2>
<a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/">Unlock is a decentralized protocol</a>, built on the Ethereum blockchain, that will allow any creator to charge for access to their work. There’s no company standing in the middle, choosing who can monetize or be discovered, and there’s no need to gather any personal data at all.
While we’re building this protocol, there’s no need to adopt our code or services to use it. It’s free to integrate it into your websites and products, just as other open standards like HTML or email are, and we don’t take any kind of cut from any transactions. In fact, by design, we can’t. Our aim is to set the standard for services that use the protocol, and kickstart a rich ecosystem of developers, vendors and customers.
While you can use our services, <a href="https://github.com/unlock-protocol/unlock">all our code is open source</a> and free to self-host —which is why today’s release is so important.
<h2>Version 0</h2>
Today we’re releasing our proof of concept for a decentralized paywall based on the Unlock Protocol.
This first release is aimed at technical, blockchain-aware web publishers whose audiences are also already using decentralized apps. Each of these users has probably got <a href="https://metamask.io/">Metamask</a> installed in their browser. They’re early adopters at the frontier of the decentralized web.
<img src="/images/blog/announcingv0/newlock.png" alt="new lock interface">
These publishers can create a lock, and set a price for content that is protected by it, as well as how long customers will have access to it for. Then, using a few lines of code, they can embed an easy-to-use paywall which uses that lock anywhere on the web. Finally, users can buy a key to unlock the lock at the price the publisher set, for the duration publishers allow.
<img src="/images/blog/announcingv0/paywalldemo.png" alt="paywall demo">
For members of their early-adopter audience, all it takes is one click and a confirmation from their cryptocurrency wallet, and they can access the content.
It’s a lightweight proof-of-concept for the protocol, but it’s also a useful proof-of-concept for publishers. There’s no need to go through an expensive paywall provider: anyone on the web can sell their content without asking anyone else for permission.
Of course, it’s early days. We don’t recommend using this at scale quite yet. And it’s limited to users who are au fait with cryptocurrencies. But we think it’s an exciting first step.
<a href="https://unlock-protocol.com/">You can deploy your first lock right here.</a> If you decide to embed it on your website or blog, please drop us a line. We would love to learn from you.
(Also, this goes for any decentralized app, but please make sure you withdraw from your lock fairly regularly. Funds are safer when they’re stored in a wallet than sitting on a smart contract.)
You can purchase a key to a lock on <a href="https://www.ouvre-boite.com/members/">this test blog post by Julien</a> or <a href="https://werd.io/2019/testing-the-unlock-paywall--protocolcom">this one by Ben</a>. We’ll donate double the proceeds from any tests and send them to <a href="https://www.she256.io/">She256</a>.
The genie isn’t getting back in the box. <a href="https://medium.com/unlock-protocol/the-end-of-the-ad-supported-web-d4d093fb462f">Anyone who reads a newspaper or stays on top of Twitter knows that the prevailing business model of the web will change.</a> It’s up to all of us to try and make it one that works for everyone, instead of a small number of gatekeepers. This release is our first step on that path.