Some providers have rolled other services like nip05 (I believe this is how you get a trusted pubkey) and ln addresses as a package deal. I think finding valuable ways to draw people into paid ecosystems may end up being necessary even if it's only a small % that actually do take it up. I saw the damus relay may close because Tim Apple dezapped them.
Discussion
Is the Damus relay involved in that drama? But you can get a free nip05 so I don’t see how that adds value. Look at fedi, most ppl don’t make money running stuff.
Will was getting a lot of zaps that were helping with the cost. Since the people who were zapping him were mostly damus users that meant his zaps dried up.
The fact that fedi is a money sink is definitely one of the reasons it hasn't been more successful.
It seems like both bluesky and threads are already winning over fedi already.