Creators & Communities

Creators are the most underserved category in the digital economy. They build audiences worth millions on platforms they don't own, using tools that limit their reach, take their revenue, and offer zero portability. A creator with 500,000 followers on Instagram can reach maybe 5% of them organically. If the platform changes its algorithm, that number drops to 2%. If the platform disappears, the audience is gone.

bonuz gives creators something no platform currently offers: owned, portable, on-chain relationships with their community — powered by the same engagement infrastructure that serves brands, events, and enterprises.

This is not a feature within bonuz. This is an entire business vertical. Creators using bonuz get access to the full engagement toolkit (memberships, gating, quests, tickets, certificates, vouchers, connections) plus creator-specific capabilities designed to replace the broken economics of platform-dependent fan engagement.

The Creator Subscription Model

At the core of the creator use case is the Creator Subscription: a time-bound, gated relationship between a creator and their community, powered by either DNFTs or creator-specific tokens.

How it works. A creator launches a subscription through the bonuz Brand Dashboard (or a white-label deployment). Fans subscribe by purchasing a Creator Subscription DNFT or token. That asset grants access to the creator's permissioned content, community, perks, and experiences for the duration of the subscription. The subscription is on-chain, verifiable, and portable across the bonuz ecosystem.

Minimum subscription period: 1 year. Creator subscriptions have a minimum run time of one year. This ensures creators commit to delivering value and fans get a meaningful engagement window. Creators can set longer periods if they choose.

DNFT or token — creator's choice. Some creators may prefer a DNFT-based subscription (a soul-bound or transferable membership DNFT with evolving state, tiers, and metadata). Others may prefer a fungible creator token that gates access. Both are supported. The underlying infrastructure is the same: bonuz Engagement Protocol, bonuz ID, gating mechanics, and the Brand Dashboard.

Fiat and Apple Pay (where legally permitted). Creator subscriptions should be purchasable by anyone, not just crypto-native users. bonuz is building toward fiat payment support — including Apple Pay and standard card payments — for subscription purchases where legally permitted. The goal is zero-friction purchasing: a fan sees a creator's subscription, taps buy, pays with Apple Pay, and receives their on-chain subscription asset in their bonuz Lifestyle Wallet. No crypto knowledge required.

What Subscribers Get

Each creator defines their own perk structure. The bonuz toolkit enables:

Gated content. Exclusive posts, videos, photos, announcements, behind-the-scenes content — visible only to subscription holders. Content gating is enforced on-chain: hold the subscription DNFT/token → access unlocked. No subscription → no access.

Tiered access. Creators can define multiple subscription tiers (Silver, Gold, VIP or any custom naming). Each tier unlocks different perks. A basic tier might include content access. A premium tier adds live calls. A VIP tier includes meet-and-greet tickets. Tiers are configured through the same membership infrastructure used by brands.

Exclusive events and tickets. Subscription holders get access to exclusive events: private concerts, Q&As, AMAs, livestreams, workshops, meetups. Tickets are issued as DNFTs with all the anti-scalping and verification features from the bonuz ticketing infrastructure. Creators can offer early bird access, VIP status, or guaranteed entry to subscription holders.

Community access. Token-gated or DNFT-gated communities where only subscribers can participate. This is the creator's owned space — not rented from a platform that can throttle reach or change rules.

Quests and challenges. Creators can run gamified engagement campaigns for their community: complete challenges, earn badges, unlock rewards. "Watch my new series, share your review, attend my live event → earn an exclusive collectible." The full quest engine is available to creators.

Vouchers and rewards. Exclusive discounts on merch, early access to drops, free products, meet-and-greet vouchers, personalized experiences. All issued as DNFTs with the same anti-fraud and single-owner protections used across the bonuz ecosystem.

Certificates and badges. Creators running educational content (courses, workshops, coaching programs) can issue verifiable certificates and achievement badges to their subscribers.

Voting and governance. Subscription holders can vote on creator decisions: merch designs, next tour locations, content themes, collaboration choices. Voting can be weighted by tier or equal per subscriber. This gives fans genuine influence while giving creators direct community insight.

Personalized experiences. Video messages, one-on-one calls, signed items, backstage access, mentoring sessions. These can be offered as limited-supply perks within higher tiers or as separate purchasable experiences.

After the Subscription Ends

This is where bonuz's DNFT architecture creates something unique.

Subscriptions are time-bound, but the asset persists. When a creator subscription expires, the DNFT doesn't disappear. It transitions into a new state. Depending on the creator's configuration:

Souvenir mode. The expired subscription becomes a collectible — a permanent record that the fan was a subscriber during a specific period. "I was a Day 1 subscriber to [Creator]'s community." Like a retired membership card that carries history. The DNFT retains its visual design, metadata, and engagement history. It becomes a digital artifact of the relationship.

Evolution mode. The expired subscription evolves into something new. A creator might configure expired Year 1 subscriptions to transform into a special "Founding Member" badge with permanent light perks (early access to announcements, merch discounts, priority in future subscription sales). The DNFT updates its state and metadata — it doesn't end, it changes.

Renewal mode. The subscription can be renewed for another period. The same DNFT extends, accumulating history. A fan who has renewed for 3 consecutive years has a DNFT that shows 3 years of continuous support — visible, verifiable, and potentially unlocking loyalty-based perks that new subscribers don't get.

Secondary value. For transferable subscription models, expired subscriptions may carry collector value. "Original Year 1 subscription to [Creator] before they had 10 million fans." The on-chain provenance is permanent.

The principle: no bonuz asset is throwaway. Every subscription, even after expiry, carries data, history, and potential future utility. The creator decides what that looks like.

Social Continuity: The Killer Feature for Creators

The single biggest problem creators face is platform dependency. bonuz solves this with Social Continuity — the ability for creators to carry their audience relationships across platforms, contexts, and time.

A creator's subscriber list on bonuz is not locked to bonuz. It's anchored to the bonuz graph — portable, permissioned, on-chain identity relationships. If a creator wants to reach their subscribers through a new platform, a different app, or a custom experience, the relationship data travels with them. The subscribers are identified by their bonuz IDs, not by a platform-specific username that could be deleted, shadowbanned, or made unreachable by algorithm changes.

This is what "own your audience" actually means. Not a CSV export of email addresses. An on-chain social graph where every subscriber relationship is verified, permissioned, and portable. The creator controls the relationship. The fan controls their data. Neither is dependent on a third-party platform's business decisions.

For Creators: Why bonuz

100% audience reach. No algorithm deciding who sees your content. Every subscriber is reachable because the relationship is direct and on-chain.

Owned community. The subscriber base belongs to the creator, not to a platform. Portable across any future integration.

Real revenue. Subscription fees go to the creator. No 30% platform cut (beyond standard payment processing). Merch, tickets, and experiences are additional revenue streams.

Verified engagement. Every interaction (event attendance, content consumption, quest completion, merch purchase) is recorded on-chain. Creators know exactly who their most engaged fans are — not from analytics estimates, but from verifiable data.

Full toolkit without building anything. Memberships, gating, quests, tickets, vouchers, certificates, badges, voting, merch — all available through the Brand Dashboard or white-label. No development team needed.

Compliance-first approach. bonuz is building the subscription purchase flow with compliance as a priority. Fiat payments, Apple Pay, and regional legal requirements are being addressed to ensure creator subscriptions can operate within regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions.

For Fans: Why bonuz

You own the subscription. It's in your wallet, not in a platform's database. If you subscribed, you have cryptographic proof.

Your engagement history is yours. Badges earned, events attended, quests completed, years subscribed — all recorded in your bonuz ID. You carry your fan history with you.

No wasted subscriptions. When a subscription expires, you keep the asset. It might become a collectible, evolve into a permanent badge, or carry perks into the future. You never lose what you've built.

Fiat-friendly. You don't need to understand crypto. Purchase with Apple Pay or card, receive your subscription in the bonuz Lifestyle Wallet, and engage with your creator's community. The blockchain is invisible.

Real-World Examples

Music artist. A musician launches a 1-year Creator Subscription with three tiers. Basic ($10/month equivalent): gated content, exclusive announcements, community access. Premium ($25/month): everything in Basic plus early ticket access to all shows, merch discounts, and monthly live Q&A. VIP ($100/month, limited to 100 subscribers): everything in Premium plus backstage access DNFT for every tour stop, annual meet-and-greet event, and voting rights on setlist and merch designs. After Year 1, expired subscriptions become "Year 1 Founding Fan" collectible badges. Renewed subscribers accumulate a streak tracked on their DNFT.

Fitness creator. A fitness influencer launches a subscription that includes gated workout programs (video content), weekly live sessions (ticketed via DNFT), monthly challenges (quests with badge rewards), and a tiered leaderboard where the most active subscribers earn exclusive merch vouchers. After 1 year, non-renewers keep a "Challenge Finisher" badge. Renewers get an evolving DNFT that tracks total workouts, challenges completed, and events attended across years.

Educator / coach. A business coach launches a subscription with course modules (certificates on completion), group coaching calls (ticketed events), a private community (membership-gated), and a capstone project (verified by engager, earns a professional certificate). The subscription effectively functions as a year-long program. Graduates keep permanent, verifiable credentials. The creator builds a verified alumni network.

Gaming content creator. A streamer launches a subscription with exclusive content, subscriber-only game nights (ticketed), quest campaigns ("watch 10 streams, clip your best moment, share on social → earn a rare badge"), and community voting on which games to play. Expired subscriptions become season-based collectibles with the subscriber's engagement stats permanently recorded.

Local celebrity / influencer. A Dubai-based food influencer launches a subscription that combines exclusive restaurant reviews, monthly subscriber dinners (ticketed at curated venues), food challenge quests across the city (PoV-verified visits), and voting on which restaurants to feature next. Subscribers get a DNFT that tracks how many recommended restaurants they've visited — a verifiable "foodie score" that local restaurants can recognize for perks.

How It Connects to the bonuz Ecosystem

Creator subscriptions are not a separate product. They are the bonuz engagement toolkit applied to the creator use case:

• Subscriptions → Memberships & Subscriptions (DNFT type)

• Content gating → Certificates & Badges (gating mechanics)

• Events → Tickets & Access Passes (DNFT type)

• Challenges → Quests & Challenges (platform tool)

• Merch → Merch Store (bonuz.shop)

• Fan identity → bonuz ID Protocol (portable social identity)

• Audience portability → Social Continuity (bonuz graph)

• Payments → Wallet Functionalities (fiat on-ramp, Apple Pay roadmap)

• White-label → White-Label Services (custom branded creator platforms)

Every piece already exists or is in active development. The creator vertical assembles them into a coherent offering for a specific, massive market: the $250B+ creator economy.