Bluesky plans to introduce payments in the coming months, a first step in its strategy to make money without relying on advertising. CEO Toni Schneider and COO Rose Wang said at TechCrunch Disrupt that the company wants to build on the buying, selling, and fundraising activity already happening on its decentralized network. "People are actually selling things, fundraising very successfully, supporting each other on the network," Schneider said, adding that Bluesky wants to make it easier to support creators and sellers monetarily across the entire network.
Schneider, who took over as CEO in March after Jay Graber stepped down, acknowledged that some users reacted to his appointment with skepticism, joking that it marked the beginning of the end for the platform. He said the fact that users can leave for another platform keeps leadership accountable as it prepares to introduce monetization. Wang argued that advertising is not inevitable, pointing to Schneider's work at Automattic, where a large portion of revenue went to the ecosystem rather than the parent company.
Bluesky is a Public Benefit Corporation, which Wang said puts its mission at the center of its business strategy. "We cannot lock people in," she said, emphasizing that value and revenue should flow to the people who create it. The company aims to disrupt the infrastructure layer, not just build another app, starting with payments. The source provides no independent analysis or opposing views, so the article reflects only Bluesky's stated plans and rationale.