Why Micro-Tipping Is the Fuel for Original Content on the Open Web

tl;dr Humans crave novelty. Agents crave data. Creators crave income. Stablecoins move value. Incentives create alignment. One of a16zโ€™s recent posts, 8 big ideas for 2026, touched on a topic that stuck with me: the invisible tax on the open web. Table of Contents Table of Contents Two problems collide An old but new primitive Why would humans tip humans? Why would agents tip humans? This is not about paywalls Two problems collide The core idea is simple and uncomfortable. ...

January 4, 2026 ยท 5 min ยท 968 words