Unit Labs

Unit Labs is a usage-based content monetization protocol built on a hub-and-spoke state channel architecture. Users deposit funds once into a persistent channel connected to the Unit Labs hub and can seamlessly unlock pay-per-article content across supported platforms without additional on-chain transactions.

Instead of subscriptions or prepaid credits locked inside individual platforms, Unit Labs enables real-time micropayments through off-chain accounting and on-chain escrow. Every article read generates a verifiable micropayment receipt attributed to the creator. Creators can request payouts based on accumulated earnings while user channels remain active, preserving gasless UX and capital efficiency.

The system leverages Yellow Network’s clearing and settlement infrastructure to coordinate off-chain balance updates, unified liquidity, and trust-minimized settlement. By transforming content access into programmable usage billing, Unit Labs introduces a fair, interoperable monetization primitive for the open internet.

Unit Labs is built using the Yellow SDK and Nitrolite state channel infrastructure to enable persistent, gasless micropayments. Users open payment channels with the Unit Labs hub through Yellow’s custody contracts, locking funds on-chain while enabling unlimited off-chain interactions.

The backend session and ledger engine is implemented in TypeScript and Node.js, managing usage metering, receipt generation, and creator allocation states. We integrated Yellow’s Nitro RPC protocol over WebSockets to handle real-time channel state updates and signed balance transitions.

A Next.js frontend powers the blog interface, wallet connectivity, and paywall logic, allowing users to unlock articles instantly with live balance tracking. Creator earnings are aggregated off-chain and settled via allocation-based channel settlement without requiring full channel closure.

We designed a hub-and-spoke clearing topology aligned with Yellow’s clearnode architecture, enabling unified balances, cross-application spendability, and scalable multi-creator payouts.

Hacky but effective: we simulated partial creator withdrawals by generating updated allocation states and triggering incremental settlements while automatically preserving user channel continuity.