A while ago, I was going on about pay-to-earn blogging sites (like Pub0x), particularly how I'm not earning from Medium/Vocal (because Stripe is racist). Somebody (I think CryptoNewbieMom, IIRC) suggested to me that I should investigate/try BULB App. I didn't get round to that until today. At first, when I searched for it, I was shown a result for BULB Portfolios (bulbapp.com), a Web 2.0 site that hosts portfolios for digital artists and IT professionals. That's not what I want, since I can add that to my own Website. Indeed, my site has such a section, but it needs to be extended/fleshed out. The BULB App in question (bulbapp.io) is something else, the correct link for which is in the "Resources" links.

TL;DR

Do you write long-form posts on Pub0x and/or the now-defunct read.cash? Are you frustrated by not earning on Medium, Mirror or Vocal and/or looking for an additional (perhaps #2) Web3.0 site for your content? Perhaps BULB App (which operates on the Solana Blockchain and connects to your Phantom/Solflare wallet) might be right for you.

What is BULB App?

According to the BULB App Website, BULB is a Web3 blogging site that ...

• Is a "Write-to-earn" and "Read-to-earn" platform powered by Solana (SOL)
• provides "a like minded community of writers, readers, memers, dreamers, believers, creators and opinion leaders to co-create value for all BULBers ..."
• pays out in its own token, $BULB
• Allocates an amount of BULB from a pool, on a daily basis.

In my opinion, it seems to me what Pub0x should have become, but has failed to achieve. Of course, I will no doubt find shortcomings with BULB as I become more familiar with and use it.

Pros and Cons

What do I like about it and what don't I? From my brief look at it (which does not yet include reading the whitepaper), there seem to be more pros than cons.

Pros

• It's apparently a Web3 platform. I am bullish on Web3.
• It doesn't pay out in Ethereum (ETH) or ERC-20s. Long-time readers know my views on ETH and ERC-20s.
• It pays out for both reading and writing content (much like Pub0x).
• It has a Whitepaper, which is a sign that it's a serious project (not some fly-by-night rug pull), although nothing is guaranteed in the cryptosphere.
• Allows you to connect your Phantom/Solflare wallet; no email address or personal details required. I prefer solflare.
• There are a wide variety of categories/tags that can be added to content (not just to do with blockchains, crypto, DeFi and the cryptosphere), helping writers categorise their output and readers find the content for which they're looking.
• Articles and profiles can be minted as NFTs on the Solana blockchain.

Cons

• It pays out in its own Token, $BULB. Hooray, yet another custom/proprietary token ...
• It's based on Solana (SOL). While I'm no longer a fan of Solana (SOL) because it makes use of the ChatGPT AI (and have used SimpleSwap to exchange almost all of my SOL for BCH; I intend to do so again with earnings from BULB), at least it's not Ethereum (ETH).
• The content policy/ToU and privacy policy are hard to find on the Website. (They're at the bottom of the "About" page. I've linked them in "Resources" for convenience.) Strangely, they're all PDF documents instead of Webpages.

Why Should You Care?

For those of you looking for an alternative to Pub0x and/or the now-defunct ReadCash (as I am), Bulb App might just be it. Having not yet connected my wallet, joined the site and published something, that's all I currently know about it. Perhaps the person whom recommended it to me might be able to provide more information in the comments. (I hope so, anyway.) Despite the fact that it runs on Solana, BULB App could very well turn out to be my #2 earning site after Pub0x. However, it could turn out to be yet another damp squib in my search for such a site. (Medium and Mirror are cases in point.) Only time will tell.

Thumbnail image: Photo by LED Supermarket on Pexels