Ripple-Backed Web Monetization Platform Is Sunsetting, Here’s What Happened

Coil, a web monetization platform founded by Ripple’s former CTO Stefan Thomas, is sunsetting. The news was made known by Coil’s CEO, Stefan Thomas.

Coil made headlines in 2019 after news surfaced that Ripple was investing in the web monetization platform.

Ripple’s Xpring gave 1 billion XRP as a “grant” to Coil to give the platform a kickstart. Ripple’s investment arm, Xpring, also participated in Coil’s $4 million seed round alongside Stefan Thomas.

Coil was developed to help writers and artists monetize their content on the internet. Creators post content on their Coil-enabled websites, which are automatically enabled for streaming payments.

When the content is utilized, Coil streams a portion of the subscription in XRP micropayments to creators in real time using the Interledger Protocol.

Coil sunsets, here’s what happened

In an open letter to the community, a screenshot of which was posted on Twitter, Stefan Thomas explains the rationale behind the decision. “Coil bids farewell but not goodbye,” Thomas stated.

This is farewell but not goodbye. Today, @Coil is sunsetting. I would like to thank the team that made Coil what it is, helped create the @Interledger Foundation, and an ecosystem around it.

Of course I’m sad. But the work continues. 1/

Letter & FAQ @ https://t.co/JAVcJGh7GS pic.twitter.com/z75QDnjRRo

— Stefan Thomas (@justmoon) February 2, 2023

He says that when Coil began in 2018, Interledger was just an idea. Adding that over the last five years, Interledger has gone through enormous development. “Now it’s time to pass the torch to a neutral body in the form of the Interledger Foundation to steward the future development of Interledger,” Thomas stated.

As part of this evolution and to focus on the development of Interledger, Coil decided to sunset its products and development efforts. Starting Feb. 2, Coil will no longer accept sign-ups for its membership, and on March 15, 2023, the platform will discontinue its service.

“In the near future, there will be full-featured Interledger wallets powering web monetization and many other use cases,” Thomas spoke on plans.

The former Ripple CTO added that his work on Interledger will continue as he will stay involved at the Interledger Foundation as chairperson of the board.

When asked by a user, “What happened to the quarter of a billion dollar XRP gift?” Stefan Thomas answered, “Most of it was in the form of a fund that we could draw from. This money never left Ripple. Now that Coil is winding down, I assume they’ll reallocate those funds toward other projects. The biggest drawdown against the fund by far was the $100 million to Interledger/GftW.”