Superfluid Subscription Service

Subscriptions services are everywhere - from Netflix to Sweetgreens - as our economy slowly moves from a one-stop-one-shop system to a lifetime deal. But there are many inefficiencies with the Web2.0 model of subscription services, especially when it comes to subscription services that exhibit some inherent supply limit. Many questions arise when considering how the service reacts to demand changes when both the supply as well as the underlying subscription fee is unable to adapt. This solution proposes a way to increase efficiency and create a positive sum benefit across the entire subscription ecosystem by tokenising the "right to subscribe" as a permissionless tradable good. Simply put, the customer simultaneously sets up a (superfluid) stream covering the cost of the subscription set out by the issuer, as well as purchases an NFT from the subscription provider. The NFT acts as a "right to be subscribed" to the service. As popularity for the subscription service grows, this creates a secondary market that allows the NFT holder to meet the growing demand for the project, and ensures the allocation of the subscription service to those that most want it. This creates a growing ecosystem where potentially "pay-to-earn" and allows a promising project to charge a more mature subscription fee than they normally would in a Web 2.0 system (as the anticipated increase in demand can be factored in). Finally, the provider is able to secure a constant real-time income stream through the superfluid technology. We demonstrate the capability of this project through a simple POC front-end includes a private video only accessible to verified subscribers.

This project leverages the impressive @SuperFluid technology and their SuperTokens to create real time streams from a subscriber to a subscription provider. The contract itself is an ERC721 SuperApp that utilizes the callback infrastructure of a @ConstantFlowAgreementv1 in order to protect the subscription provider and ensure a constant flow of income. The ERC721 token acts as the "key" to "unlock" the subscription utility as long as there is a pre-specified Superstream income flow from the sender to the subscription provider (the SuperApp contract). The project leverages the ERC721 "hook" of beforeTokenTransfer in order to cancel any superfluid stream so that previous users do not inadvertently pay a subscription fee they no longer have the rights to. Further, it allows for the new owner a one-time opportunity to set up a new valid superfluid stream with the subscription provider. The contract then leverages the @SuperFluid callback functionality in order to manage all superfluid streams into the contract and ensure that all valid subscribers are paying the correct respective streams. Should this contract be violated, the violating subscribers' NFT is burnt and the subscription service is able to sell another NFT at the secondary market. The most innovative part about this project is how it was able to turn the TradeableCashFlow on its head and provide the inverse functionality.