On Odysee: The Role of Blockchain Technology for Monetisation in the Far-Right Online Milieu

The report examines Odysee, a video-hosting platform built on the LBRY protocol, as a case study for how blockchain technology enables the monetisation of far-right and conspiracy-related content. It identifies specific 'incentivised' affordances—such as LBRY Credits (LBC), rewards for activity, and tipping—that attract actors who have been demonetised on mainstream platforms. Through qualitative and financial analysis, the study finds that while the platform is not exclusively far-right, it serves as a 'safe haven' where established extreme-right figures can maintain their reach and generate income, though earnings are highly volatile due to the fluctuating price of LBC. The report argues that Odysee's claim of being 'censorship-resistant' is a fallacy, as the operators use geoblocking and delisting to manage content, and suggests that regulatory frameworks like the EU Digital Services Act should account for the specific risks of 'incentivised' business models and gamification.

• Odysee uses an 'incentivised' model where users are rewarded with LBRY Credits (LBC) for activities such as publishing, liking, and sharing posts, which attracts far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists who are often banned from mainstream platforms.
• The platform's search algorithm is influenced by the amount of LBRY Credits a user stakes when uploading a video, meaning higher financial investment can lead to higher search rankings regardless of relevance.
• Financial analysis of 53 accounts from the conspiracy theorist and radical right to extreme-right spectrum showed total earnings of approximately 122,306 USD over a 16-month period, based on an average LBC price of 0.074 USD.
• Earnings on Odysee are highly volatile and dependent on the market price of LBC; for example, the total balance of the 53 investigated accounts was worth 7,578.19 USD on 13 April 2022, but dropped to 3,839.48 USD by 13 May 2022.
• The most financially successful channels on Odysee are typically those run by creators who were already prominent in the extreme-right or conspiracy milieu before joining the platform, using it as a back-up or multi-platform strategy.
• Content focusing on current political issues generally receives more financial support than 'classic' extreme-right topics, such as historical revisionism regarding the First or Second World War.
• Despite marketing itself as 'censorship-resistant', Odysee employs geoblocking and delisting to make content unavailable in specific regions, such as Germany, though some illegal content like Holocaust denial and footage of the Buffalo shooter remains accessible.
• Odysee's reporting process is described as laborious and potentially intimidating, as the platform often requests that users provide specific legal citations and translations to justify a report.
• The report suggests that Odysee may be in violation of Germany's Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) by failing to name a legal representative in the country.

APA

Matlach, P., Hammer, D., & Schwieter, C. (2023). On Odysee: The Role of Blockchain Technology for Monetisation in the Far-Right Online Milieu. Institute for Strategic Dialogue. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/On-Odysee_The-Role-of-Blockchain-Technology-for-Monetisation-in-the-Far-Right-Online-Milieu.pdf

Chicago

Matlach, Paula, Dominik Hammer, and Christian Schwieter. On Odysee: The Role of Blockchain Technology for Monetisation in the Far-Right Online Milieu. Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2023. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/On-Odysee_The-Role-of-Blockchain-Technology-for-Monetisation-in-the-Far-Right-Online-Milieu.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Matlach |first1=Paula |last2=Hammer |first2=Dominik |last3=Schwieter |first3=Christian |title=On Odysee: The Role of Blockchain Technology for Monetisation in the Far-Right Online Milieu |publisher=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |date=2023 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/On-Odysee_The-Role-of-Blockchain-Technology-for-Monetisation-in-the-Far-Right-Online-Milieu.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{matlach2023odysee, author = {Matlach, Paula and Hammer, Dominik and Schwieter, Christian}, title = {{On Odysee: The Role of Blockchain Technology for Monetisation in the Far-Right Online Milieu}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/On-Odysee_The-Role-of-Blockchain-Technology-for-Monetisation-in-the-Far-Right-Online-Milieu.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }