Athenut and the Future of Paid Private Search

Two days ago, the paid search engine athenut.com launched. Since then, its counter shows it’s handled just 62 searches.

Athenut operates on top of Kagi, a subscription-based, ad-free search engine delivering highly relevant results, with subscriptions payable in fiat or Bitcoin via Cash App.

Athenut, however, charges per search for privacy, using Cashu tokens for micro-payments. This removes the need for an account, meaning no search history can be linked back to the user.

The low interest likely comes down to two factors: few people are willing to pay for privacy, and even fewer use Cashu tokens.

Imagine a similar project using ChatGPT Search instead of Kagi, with per-search payments in more popular micro-payment-friendly crypto like Bitcoin Lightning, Stellar Lumen, Nano, or IOTA. This might attract more users willing to test it out. Maybe someone will bring this idea to life, and soon, we’ll have the chance to try it.

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