The problem for me is the scale of the subsidies. As far as I can tell, it's over $1m per month going in, perhaps well over. And for a user based with under 10k daily actives (going by npub.world). That's $100 per daily active per month, or thereabouts.

If it was a little bit of help here and there then I'd be fine with it, but this is something else entirely, these are Saudi Arabia ratios.

I think small businesses running clients for profit is fine and good, just as it's fine and good to have small businesses running bakeries and bars. One good thing about nostr is that it potentially enables small businesses to take part in an industry previously reserved for corporations. But like any small business they still have to function as *actual business* for the whole thing to work. That hasn't been proven out.