Donald Trump

Brian

President Donald Trump

Blogging is one of the earliest forms of expression on the internet, reaching its peak in the late 1990s and 2000s.
People turned their blogs into monologues, travelogues, and runaway wardrobes. They could write political manifestos or post pictures of their family trips on websites such as WordPress and Tumblr. Even little-known accounts reached thousands of people.
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 Coinbase's D'Agostino reveals the plan to put all of finance on one app (5:27)
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But the rise of video-focused social media platforms such as <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/youtube-takes-down-multiple-channels-over-harmful-content" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/mark-zuckerberg-eyes-another-billion-dollar-market" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/news/tiktok-to-launch-creator-led-nft-collection" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TikTok</a> turned people's attention away from online reading spaces.
However, the internet has seen a revival of the blogging culture in the last few years as readers are returning to the old tradition. Serious bloggers looking to make money have embraced the subscription model and readers are paying.
In a&nbsp;subscription model, a customer makes a recurring payment on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis to access a product or service.
Pioneered by periodical publishers in the 17th century, the model is very common in the internet&nbsp;world. Whether these are streaming platforms like <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/duolingo-beats-netflix-by-80-spots-in-new-power-ranking" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Netflix</a>, <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/mark-cuban-puts-bitcoin-and-apple-in-the-same-bucket" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Apple</a> TV, MUBI, etc., or digital versions of newspapers like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, etc., nearly every service relies on the subscription model.
Blogging websites such as Substack and Medium also host accounts that charge readers a recurring fee for their content.
But what if a reader doesn't want to subscribe to a blog and just wants to read a particular article of interest? Why would they make a large payment for a month just to read one article?
Billionaire <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/coinbase-ceo-makes-big-bitcoin-prediction-amid-market-rally" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Brian Armstrong</a>, the co-founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/top-analyst-cuts-coinbase-target-bets-on-prediction-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coinbase Global</a> (Nasdaq: COIN), has a solution for this but it could kill monthly subscriptions.
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 Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (R) as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on speaks during a summit of crypto and technology leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on August 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. 
 Getty Images
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<h2 id="armstrong-proposes-stablecoins-for-micropayments">Armstrong proposes stablecoins for micropayments</h2>
Armstrong leads the largest crypto trading exchange in the United States and is a vocal proponent of integrating crypto in regular payments.
On Oct. 28, he <a href="https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/2115582379951608180" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">wrote an X post</a> in which he argued that businesses can integrate&nbsp;stablecoins and&nbsp;x402 to accept usage-based micropayments.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/explained/explained-what-is-a-stablecoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Explained: What is a stablecoin?</a>
He gave an example in which an internet user doesn't have to pay for a monthly subscription to read one article. Instead, a reader can read only that particular article and an&nbsp;AI agent can pay for it on the user's behalf, he suggested.
What&nbsp;Armstrong suggested isn't new at all because multiple platforms such as YouTube Movies offer a pay-per-view model. However, it has still not gained popularity because credit or debit card transaction fees can be particularly high for micropayments. For example, Stripe <a href="https://stripe.com/pricing" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">charges</a> 2.9%+$0.30 per&nbsp;transaction&nbsp;for domestic cards in the U.S.
<h3 id="more-on-thstreet-roundtable">More on ThStreet Roundtable:</h3>
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 <li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/retail/mcrib-is-back-and-fans-are-again-falling-for-its-favorite-superstition" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">McRib is back and fans are again falling for its favorite superstition</a></li>
</ul>
But the Coinbase CEO proposed using a novel financial infrastructure involving agents, stablecoins, and x402 for micropayments.
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a steady, fixed value by being pegged to a "stable" real-world asset, like the U.S. dollar. The value of one unit of dollar-pegged stablecoins such as <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/circle-after-rejecting-ripple-and-coinbases-acquisition-bids-now-chases-major-win" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Circle Internet Group</a>’s (NYSE: CRCL) <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/circle-stock-slips-amid-criminal-complaint-in-major-u-s-state" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDC</a> is the same as that of one U.S. dollar.
Coinbase has a years-long <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-in/blog/coinbase-and-circle-announce-the-launch-of-usdc-a-digital-dollar" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">relationship</a> with Circle, as they jointly built the USDC stablecoin ecosystem. Although Circle is now the sole issuer of USDC, Coinbase <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-in/usdc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">remains</a> its largest distribution partner and shares heavily in the economics of the stablecoin reserves.
Coinbase receives a share of the net reserve income generated by USDC held on its platform,&nbsp;plus 50% of the residual reserve income attributable to USDC circulating outside its platform.
<a href="https://www.coinbase.com/en-in/developer-platform/discover/launches/x402" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">x402</a> is an open payment protocol launched by Coinbase that enables instant stablecoin payments by&nbsp;humans, apps, and AI agents.&nbsp;While the first 1,000 settled payments a month are free, the protocol <a href="https://x.com/CoinbaseDev/status/1995564027951665551" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">charges</a>&nbsp;only $0.001 per settled payment after that.
This low-cost stablecoin model over the x402 protocol is exactly what Armstrong has proposed for micropayments.
If successful, it could even kill the monthly subscription model.
<h2 id="the-roundtable-100">The Roundtable 100</h2>
If you follow our market coverage, don’t miss the <a href="https://roundtable100.com/tab/rankings" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Roundtable 100</a>. Updated every Friday, it's a power ranking of the 100 most investable tech stocks, including digital assets. Check out the latest <a href="https://roundtable100.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">RTB 100</a> rankings at <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">roundtable100.com</a>
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/varonis-systems-jumps-52-places-on-the-roundtable-100" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Varonis Systems jumps 52 places on the Roundtable 100</a>

Coinbase CEO wants to kill monthly subscriptions, one article at a time

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