Yesterday we launched the FiRM affiliate program, a new way for community leaders, influencers, businesses, and media properties to generate revenue for borrowers they refer to FiRM.
A bit of background:
What is an Affiliate program?
An affiliate program is a performance-based method for compensating individuals or businesses who send new business to a project or company - most famously launched by Amazon whose associates program is now legend. Affiliates typically receive a portion of the revenue or a one-time incentive as compensation for their promotional efforts. Affiliate programs in DeFi are surprisingly uncommon, largely due to opportunities for abuse but potentially as well due to the manual intervention that can be required to vet and manage Affiliates.
How how does the FiRM Affiliate program work?
We approached this problem initially to design a referral program for all users, which presented risks of abuse that would not pass muster with DAO governance. Instead, we looked at models with a more narrow eligibility criteria that allow us - for now - to vet prospective Affiliates manually. We try to do things permissionlessly, of course, but the amount of manual intervention we believe will be modest and if necessary additional contributor talent can be acquired to manage the problem as it scales.
To become an Affiliate, it’s pretty easy - tell us you are interested and answer a few questions and if you are eligible we will issue you a custom referral URL for your users along with access to our Affiliate dashboard so you can view your referrals (and your commission rewards) in real-time. Payouts are made in DBR and are done monthly.
Why should you become a FIRM Affiliate?
If your website, social media presence, or other online asset is discussing DeFi lending, stablecoins, liquidity farming, and related topics, the FiRM Affiliate program adds an additional monetization path that can have its own stand-alone presence (e.g. a web page dedicated to FiRM or fixed rate lending) or be deployed against unused or unsold advertising inventory.
Most importantly, the FiRM Affiliate program provides a generous revenue share against even large loans on FiRM - something unique among DeFi lending protocols.
Who is eligible?
Eligibility is initially limited to influencers, community leaders, businesses, media properties, and others with sizeable followings. This is where we start, anyway, and we’ll perhaps broaden it in the future. Take a look here at the criteria and - hey this is a beta so if we’re missing out on an opportunity by being too narrow in our criteria, reach out and let us know.
How much can an Affiliate earn?
Our program allows affiliates to earn a 10% commission on DBR’s spent by borrowers they refer. There is no limit to the number of borrowers you can refer however during the beta period we are capping overall payouts. Some borrowers take out 6 and 7-digit loans on FiRM so your earnings could potentially be significant.
The program's success is founded on the fact that FiRM today offers some of the most competitive lending rates in DeFi, including compared to top variable rate lending protocols, against blue chip collateral like wstETH, WBTC, CRV, CVX, and newer assets like COMP. With a robust community of Affiliates, there is no stopping us.
To join, visit our signup page here inverse.finance/affiliate/apply
Now LGTM!
