Twitter rival, Bluesky announces $8 million seed funding, introduces paid custom domain feature – Times of India

Bluesky, another Twitter rival in the offing, backed by former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey, has recently received additional funding and is introducing its first paid service. The company announced in a blog post that it raised $8 million in seed funds during the summer. Bluesky is also offering a paid service that allows users to have a personalised domain as their username on the platform.
The social network company plans to use the funds to expand its team, manage operations and infrastructure costs, and grow its AT Protocol that powers the Bluesky app. The AT Protocol is an alternative to ActivityPub, which powers Mastodon, another decentralised Twitter rival, and soon, Meta‘s Threads app.
Bluesky has partnered with Namecheap to offer a paid domain service that allows users to authenticate their identity. The Bluesky team aims to ensure the platform’s sustainability, stating that companies relying on advertisements treat users as products.
As Bluesky prioritises users owning their data, they are exploring alternative ways of monetisation. It’s important to note that although Twitter initially funded Bluesky, it has since become independent after Elon Musk’s involvement.
Users can search for a domain name and pay for it within Bluesky’s interface. This will save time compared to the current process of going through a separate domain registrar.
With the integrated service, users can conveniently manage their domain settings and configurations within Bluesky. They can forward emails sent to their domains to an address they prefer and can redirect their domain to their Bluesky profile or a specific URL. If they choose to leave the platform or switch to a different registrar, they can easily transfer their domain away.
Bluesky previously allowed users to choose a custom domain as their username. Over 13,000 out of their 100,000+ users have taken advantage of this feature.