Qntra, the first Bitcoin news website to say “fuck no” to shilling for scammersi continues to make waves.
What sets Qntra apart from the start, in addition to their exceptionally clean layout, is that, unlike every single other Bitcoin news website, Qntra won’t take your money in exchange for publishing some thinly veiled press release. You might say “o but the website haz to make money so it’s ok if they paid shillz.” To that, I say, the website’s profitability is in no way, shape, or form your business or your problem. Your business is not getting scammed and your problem is when you do, y’know?
Qntra allows the reader to separate the chaff (those that would scam you) from the wheat (those that wouldn’t) by completely shutting out the chaff in the first place. This is so cool because, in separating the signal from the noise, the reader is protected from untold swarms of wallet inspectors. This is something that your national newspapers, Gawker, and the rest of the mainstream media have never and will never accomplish.ii This is no accident either, it’s the same model we see in #bitcoin-assets, which is why it will undoubtedly work every bit as well.iii
If that weren’t disruptive enough, and you’d better believe that an easy-reading website that isn’t on the dole is pretty fucking exceptional, there are two more interesting ingredients in the mix: who’s allowed to write for Qntra and how said writers are remunerated.
1. Who can write for Qntra?
Those in the WoT and those who’ve completed their IRC Yeshiva, that is, those with a PGP key registered with bitcoin-otc and those that’ve spent at least 6 months reading #bitcoin-assets logs.iv Two things set the bar. Two things that most of you reading this don’t have. Yes, that means that if you don’t have these you’re not good enough, and yes, that means that if you don’t have these you fucked up somewhere in your travels.v
So the Yeshiva ain’t optional and neither is the WoT. If you’re a decent writer who wants to emigrate from The Old Republic where you get paid clickscam pennies, and immigrate to The Serene Republic, the second best time is now.vi Not tomorrow. Not later “when you have some time.” Right fucking now.
2. How are Qntra writers remunerated?
This is where things get crafty. Just yesterday, Qntra was listed on MPEx, the Bitcoin stock exchange. Shares will not be for sale through an IPO, however :
S.QNTR shares will be issued through the following procedure : before the 5th of each month, a total wordcount of qualified articles published by Qntra during the previous month will be announced by the Editor in Chief, alongside a per-author list including that author’s GPG fingerprint and total word count ; MPEx will issue twice that count of shares, allocating half to the Qntra board block, and half to the respective authors. This process will continue indefinitely.
In essence, writers are issued shares of the company in direct exchange for every single word they have published. The writers then have the option to sell or hold their shares as they see fit, and if they sell, they’re selling them for Bitcoin on the most secure and reputable Bitcoin exchange on the planet. Neat, eh?
As a writer-for-hire, there’s really no other work you can practicably undertake that will earn you anything like as much wealth, visibility, and respect. It’s really not even close.
Just one more benefit of the WoT and the IRC Yeshiva…
Still think they’re optional?
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- Remember how much CoinDesk, CryptoCoinNews, CoinFire etc. pumped NeoBee, Mastercoin, Butterfly Labs, et al. ?? Well, they continue unabated.↩
- On account of MSM’s inertia, overhead, and irreparable braindamage.↩
- And +m in #b-a works phenomenally.↩
- PGP is your identity and the #b-a logs are your schooling. Without both of these, you’re just another dumb featureless blob.↩
- On the off chance that you thought derping on Reddit and persuading merchants to accept Bitcoin was sufficient to demonstrate your supreme knowledge and superiority on all known matters and that you should therefore me more than qualified to write for this particular beacon of clarity amidst the deluge of detestable drivel, this should serve as the final nail in that delusional coffin.↩
- The first best time being in ~2012.↩