Fantom starts paying developers to generate gas fees

A new program from the Fantom Opera network (FTM) team will pay developers for the gas fees they generate from users, according to a May 31 announcement. Specifically, the “Gas Monetization Program” will pay eligible developers 15% of the total gas fees their apps generate.

Six Web3 apps have already been approved for the program, including ParaSwap, Beethoven X, Stargate, LayerZero, WOOFi, and SpookySwap. These apps have generated over 12,000 FTM (worth approximately $3,715) of rewards already, the announcement stated.

The program was inspired by the “Web2 ad-revenue model” implemented by sites like YouTube and Snapchat that pay content creators for their contributions. The Fantom team hopes it will provide developers with an “alternative source of revenue,” leading to a “sustainable” ecosystem for Fantom.

However, not all apps will be eligible for the program. Protocols that have done less than 125,000 transactions or have been live on Fantom for less than three months will be automatically excluded. Others can apply to become part of the program, but Fantom warned that “the criteria are subject to change as the Fantom Foundation assesses their effectiveness.”

The team encountered some pushback from users when they first began discussing the Gas Monetization Program. “There are some who have speculated that the Gas Monetization program might discourage developers from creating gas-efficient contracts, as higher gas fees results in greater FTM rewards for them to claim,” the Fantom team said.

However, Fantom argued that this reasoning is flawed. They believe app developers will still need to make gas-efficient contracts; otherwise, the apps will be challenged by competitors. The team clarified that apps perceived to be abusing the program may be suspended from participation. 

Fantom has been preparing for the Gas Monetization Program since December when it proposed a 75% cut to the token burn rate to finance it. Later that month, Fantom Foundation director and DeFi architect Andre Cronje announced that the team would focus on “gas reform” in 2023 to onboard more developers and users.

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