On Bluesky and enshittification – The Fediverse Report

Taking funding from a VC firm called Blockchain Capital raised quite the furore: " a common response ... was that “the enshittification has started”."

"Bluesky is aware of the negative connotations ... explicitly stating that “the Bluesky app and the AT Protocol do not use blockchains or cryptocurrency, and we will not hyperfinancialize the social experience (through tokens, crypto trading, NFTs, etc.).”..."

So how will Bluesky make money?

"in earlier interviews, Jay Graber has mentioned the idea of building marketplaces on Bluesky as a way to make money... For a platform to become enshittified ... needs to have exclusive control of a marketplace... However, Bluesky is currently ... instead opting for subscriptions and payment processing".

How to counter enshittification? Interoperability and user ownership are "deeply embedded in the design of ATProto". Despite this, the reputational damage caused by the blockchain association is a real risk for platform growth.