About Basenote

A content platform built on Base.

Basenote is an onchain publishing platform where writers earn directly from readers — no ads, no middlemen, no subscriptions. Every article is unlocked with a one-time USDC payment via the x402 protocol. Authors receive 70% of each sale instantly. Readers earn a guaranteed 10% back on every purchase, plus up to 5% bonus through referrals, early reads, and curation. The remaining 15% goes to the platform.

Tagline

Read. Pay once. Earn forever.

How It Works

Writer publishes

Connect your EVM wallet, write your article, set your price in USDC. No transaction required to publish — just fill in the form and go live instantly.

Reader pays with x402

When a reader clicks to read, the x402 protocol triggers a one-time USDC payment on Base. Gas costs less than $0.001. The payment goes directly into the Basenote treasury smart contract.

Treasury accumulates

All payments pool into the shared treasury contract on Base. Authors earn 70% of each article sale. Readers get a guaranteed 10% back plus up to 5% bonus. The balance is visible in real time on the Treasury page.

Weekly distribution

Every Monday at UTC 00:00, the treasury distributes accumulated payouts on-chain — directly to authors and readers based on their exact share.

What is x402?

x402 is an open payment protocol built on HTTP status code 402 — "Payment Required." When a reader requests a paywalled article, the server responds with a 402 and payment details. The reader's wallet automatically signs and broadcasts a USDC transaction on Base. Once confirmed, the content is unlocked — all within a single request cycle.

There are no subscriptions, no saved payment methods, and no centralized processor. Payments are peer-to-contract, settled on-chain, and cost fractions of a cent in gas.

Treasury & Distribution

Every USDC payment made on Basenote is split at the moment of purchase. Each Monday, accumulated payouts are distributed on-chain:

Platform

15%

Covers infrastructure, development, and operations.

Authors

70%

70% of each article sale, paid directly to the author.

Readers

10%+

10% guaranteed cashback + up to 5% bonus via referrals, early reads, and curation.

Distribution Formula

Every payment is split at the moment of purchase — no pools, no proportional weighting. Each party receives their exact share automatically.

Author earnings = Article price × 70%
Example: 10 USDC article → Author receives 7 USDC

Reader reward = Purchase price × 10% (guaranteed) + bonus pool (up to 5%)
Example: 10 USDC spent → Reader gets minimum 1 USDC back, up to 2 USDC with bonuses

Example

Treasury: 1,000 USDC collected this week

Writer A sold articles worth 50 USDC → receives 35 USDC (50 × 70%)
Writer B sold articles worth 200 USDC → receives 140 USDC (200 × 70%)

Reader pool (10% of treasury): 100 USDC
Reader who spent 50 USDC out of 500 total → receives 10 USDC cashback (50/500 × 100)