Opening Affiliate Programs with cryptocurrency payouts

Affiliate programs are everywhere, from eCommerce stores to Travel platforms, to SaaS offerings and even financial products. It’s now commonly understood to be a strong and reliable mechanism for monetising online traffic. Influencers and online personas are able to earn money for referring their audience to the partnered Brand. Based on statistics, this partnered Brand is typically Amazon, owning more than 40% of the market share in the affiliate marketing economy.

I recently became an Amazon Affiliate, simply to understand the process of becoming one. It was quite simple.

1. Register an account
2. Provide your preferred method of payout, whether check or direct deposit
3. Provide information about business or yourself for tax purposes

…and you’re good to go.

It dawned on me that this is only simple because I have the luxury of living in Australia, where the currency is stable and compliance and societal order is taken for granted.

For individuals in regions where this is not the case, there may be barriers for access to these platforms that enable so much opportunity, so long as you have the audience to capitalise on it.

Considering that technology and access to social media are outpacing access to standard and stable financial services, as we can see in regions like Africa and Latin America, I wonder whether there’s an opportunity to establish this access by enabling cryptocurrency payouts for affiliate programs. Such an outcome could allow independent social media influencers or content creators to improve their standard of living by being able to leverage the world's largest and most thriving affiliate programs in communities where they would otherwise be inaccessible.

I write this short note in hopes someone could indicate whether such a solution should be realised.

At Usher, we’re attempting to decentralise partnerships, enabling partner programs for Web3 Brands. During one of my brainstorming sessions, this concept was noted.

A crypto-enabled Amazon affiliate program would look something like this:

1. Connect your wallet
2. Share a link
3. Earn crypto rewards when that link is used and Amazon product purchases are made

No bank accounts, tax filings, legal entities, identification or registration are required.

If you would be interested in becoming an affiliate to earn crypto, sign up for our newsletter to learn more and/or comment on this short note on what affiliate programs you would like to see rewarding crypto.