Binance founder CZ raises paid chat fee on ReachMe amid massive demand

Binance founder CZ has hiked the fee for messaging him on ReachMe, a paid chat platform he recently adopted, after being flooded with messages.

On Mar. 27, CZ shared an update on X about his experience with ReachMe, a platform that helps influencers monetize direct messages. Initially setting the fee at 0.04 Binance Coin (BNB), about $24 per message, he was quickly overwhelmed with spam and irrelevant questions.

Raising the price to 0.1 BNB ($60) still didn’t deter the flood of messages, leading him to set the fee at the current 0.2 BNB ($120) per message. CZ claims that his goal is to reach an equilibrium of around 10 messages per day, though he doubts it’s achievable. Most messages, he noted, are either too short or too broad, such as “How do I run a successful startup?”

CZ also mentioned that he does not plan to personally profit from this system. Instead, he will donate the money he earns from these messages to charity. His goal is not to make money but to find a way to manage the large number of people trying to reach him.

CZ first introduced the idea of a pay-to-reach platform on a Mar. 8 article on Binance Square, arguing that traditional messaging systems like LinkedIn and X have low barriers, leading to excessive spam. His vision was to create a system where well-known figures, often called Key Opinion Leaders, could charge a fee for receiving messages. 

This would filter out low-effort inquiries and ensure that only serious requests get through. In his proposed model, if the KOL didn’t respond within five days, half of the fee would be refunded to the sender.

The sender would still incur some cost, discouraging spam while incentivizing the KOL to reply. Additionally, the platform would take a 10% cut of transactions, while 90% of the payment would go directly to the recipient.

Just 18 days after sharing this concept, a developer reached out to CZ with a working prototype. After discussions and security reviews, the platform went live. While ReachMe is still in its early days, CZ’s adoption, together with a potential backing from YZi Labs (formely Binance Labs), could help it become a leading platform where professionals monetize their accessibility.