Latest on ION Development: First Monetization Beta Update, Online+ App Refinements, and More

Ice Open Network (ION) continues to advance Online+ toward its first monetization beta, introducing feature refinements that are already improving the user experience for early testers. Over the past week, the team shared detailed breakdowns of its revenue model, tokenized community structure, premium account options, and payment tools, illustrating how Online+ is moving from a social feed into a full on-chain creator ecosystem. 

These updates build on the November 17–23 bulletin, which emphasized stability improvements and laid foundational groundwork for upcoming monetization features.

What Were the Recent Announcements?

ION’s posts on X this week focused on practical components of its 50/50 revenue model. For creators and early adopters, these updates clarify not only what is coming to Online+ but also how each component contributes to a sustainable ecosystem.

Tokenized Communities (Nov 21): ION’s deep dive explained how creators can issue tokens to gate access, reward activity, and build small economies within the platform. From prior feature testing, interactions such as joining or engaging within these communities appear to be the primary triggers for the 50/50 revenue loop, splitting value between creators and token burns.

Premium Accounts (Nov 22): The project also outlined how premium subscriptions offer ad-free feeds and encrypted, quantum-resistant chats. For users who prefer a clean interface and stronger privacy controls, this feature suggests a notable improvement over the current default experience.

ION Pay Card & Feature Timeline (Nov 23): The team confirmed that tokenized communities, swaps, bridges, ads, and new utilities are on track for a closed beta in early December. The introduction of the ION Pay Card reflects ION’s intent to connect everyday spending with ecosystem participation, mirroring the approaches of other emerging Web3 payment tools.

Details from the Online+ Bulletin

The latest Online+ Bulletin, authored by Product Lead Yuliia, focused on a pre-monetization release designed to stabilize the app before major revenue features launch. In hands-on use, these fixes reduce friction across the feed, chat, and profile sections, an essential step before asking users to interact with tokenized or paid features.

Key Feature Updates

Wallet Section: Continued work on the Swap feature, focusing on its development to enable in-app token exchanges.

Feed Improvements:

• Enhanced article editor performance to provide a smoother writing experience.
• Added the ability to delete individual search results for better user control.
• Implemented video preloading during full-screen scrolling to ensure quicker playback.
• Introduced social counters to reply notifications, allowing users to see engagement metrics directly.

General Developments:

• Advanced the Switch Accounts feature, which will allow users to manage multiple profiles more easily.
• Progressed with the implementation of tokenized communities, enabling creator-driven spaces integrated into the platform.

Bug Fixes

Authentication:

• Resolved an issue where the follower count did not update after inviting new users via registration links, ensuring accurate counts post-invitation.

Chat Fixes:

• Corrected problems with shared Story links that previously opened empty screens.
• Restored missing dividers between some chats in the list for improved visual organization.
• Fixed full reloads that occurred every time chats were reopened, reducing unnecessary loading times.
• Prevented cancelled media from sending to recipients or appearing as empty messages.
• Ensured muted users no longer trigger push notifications, respecting user preferences.

Feed Fixes:

• Corrected unrecognized links in posts, allowing proper detection and functionality.
• Fixed improper redirection to the previous screen after sharing a post to Stories.
• Removed incorrect notifications for quoting one’s own post.
• Stopped push notifications from reappearing after they were opened in-app.
• Eliminated the flashing “We’ll be back shortly” maintenance screen after reconnecting to the internet.
• Adjusted text width for notifications to prevent display issues.

Profile Updates:

• Ensured profile picture changes now update correctly in the navigation menu, providing consistent visuals across the app.

Yuliia's statement in the bulletin highlighted the team's intensive focus on monetization features such as tokenized communities, ads, boosts, swaps, and bridging. The pre-monetization release was described as foundational, with an extended reporting period to capture all issues. Additional features in development, such as Switch Accounts and Delegate Access, will first be released to beta testers before a wider release. Yuliia highlighted ongoing activity on the project's GitHub as evidence of continuous development.

The bulletin also dedicated a section to the six core monetization features, framing them within ION's deflationary 50/50 loop. This mechanism divides platform revenue equally between creator rewards and token burns. The features include:

• Ads: Native promotions integrated into the app's interface for creators and brands to gain visibility.
• Boosts: A mechanism to extend post reach beyond standard likes, based on user-driven actions.
• Swaps and Bridges: In-app tools for token exchanges and cross-chain transfers without external navigation.
• Tokenized Communities: Spaces where creators manage access, engagement, and rewards through tokens.
• Premium Accounts: Subscriptions providing ad-free feeds, quantum-resistant chats, and identity badges.
• ION Pay Card: A payment card linking daily spending to ecosystem support.

These components aim to generate revenue from user activities like boosting, swapping, subscribing, and transacting.

Looking ahead, the bulletin outlined plans for the pre-monetization release, including fixes for video posting, Feed, Wallet, Chat, and Profile. In parallel, final preparations for monetization features would enable beta testing, with ads, boosts, tokenized communities, swaps, and bridging nearing completion.

In-Depth Look at Monetization Features

ION's monetization deep-dive series expanded on specific features. The article on tokenized communities explained how creators can issue tokens to build economies around their audiences. Interactions within these communities, such as memberships or engagements, trigger the 50/50 revenue split, directing funds to creators and reducing ION token supply through burns.

The premium accounts piece detailed the benefits of subscriptions, including ad removal and enhanced chat security via quantum-resistant encryption. Fees from these accounts integrate into the broader tokenomics, supporting the deflationary model.

The ION Pay Card overview describes its compatibility with major digital wallets and contactless payments. Transactions made with the card contribute to Online+ revenue, which is split 50/50 to reward participants and burn tokens.

Tokenized communities, premium accounts, and the ION Pay Card collectively illustrate how Online+ is designed around a circular economic model. Unlike platforms that rely solely on advertising, ION’s 50/50 loop ties revenue directly to user activity. This structure mirrors emerging trends in decentralized social applications where creators share directly in the economic upside generated by their audiences.

Conclusion

ION’s recent updates show meaningful progress toward a monetized version of Online+. The emphasis on stability ahead of the beta suggests the team is prioritizing reliability before introducing revenue-generating mechanics. While many of the monetization tools remain in closed beta, their structure offers a clearer picture of how Online+ aims to blend creator monetization, token utility, and onchain social interactions into a single ecosystem. 

In the long run, more definitive insights will emerge as these features reach public testers in the coming weeks.

Sources:

• Latest Online+ Bulletin: November 17-23
• DeepDive Series on Premium Accounts: Ad-free Browsing and More
• DeepDive series on Tokenized Communities: Turning Audiences into Communities
• Final DeepDive Series: ION Pay Card
• CoinTelegraph Coverage: How onchain social turns creator attention into shared value