cipher0ne. Subscribe

Week of 2026-09-14

This week's drop 2:

5 finds released Wed . Tap any title below to jump straight to it.

Earners

A small data service paid for in thousands of tiny requests

We checked itLegal position unclear

A service whose web address hints at social media data earned $138.75 in a month from thousands of tiny paid requests, with no one buyer in charge.

The money
100 to 1k USD a month
How sure we are
We checked it
Released

The full story

  • How the money is made
  • How we know
  • Where the number could be wrong
  • What it would take to try something similar
  • Legal notes in plain English

The full story is for subscribers

The blurred text is a placeholder, not the real thing.Subscribe

Earners

Utility tools for AI agents, paid per request

We checked itLegal position unclear

A small set of utilities for AI programs took in 152.27 dollars in a month from 1,639 paid requests. One buyer accounts for nearly all of it.

The money
100 to 1k USD a month
How sure we are
We checked it
Released

The full story

  • How the money is made
  • How we know
  • Where the number could be wrong
  • What it would take to try something similar
  • Legal notes in plain English

The full story is for subscribers

The blurred text is a placeholder, not the real thing.Subscribe

Know the risks

Tools that make AI essays sound human, or hand students answers

No figureGrey

They rewrite AI text to slip past detectors or give students homework answers. The field is crowded with big incumbents, and it helps academic misconduct. What it earns is unknown.

The money
no figure
How sure we are
No figure
Released

The full story

  • How the money is made
  • How we know
  • Where the number could be wrong
  • What it would take to try something similar
  • Legal notes in plain English

The full story is for subscribers

The blurred text is a placeholder, not the real thing.Subscribe

Earners

Hunting smart-contract bugs for prizes: most entrants earn little

No figureLegal position unclear

Projects pay researchers who find flaws in smart contracts, but duplicates are the main loss and bots already catch the easy bugs, so generic AI output tends to earn nothing.

  • Code4rena platform Its public rankings showed 2,468 entrants and 3.14 million dollars in total prizes over the last 365 days. Source: Code4rena public ranking page
  • Sherlock platform Its public ranking lists 1,367 entrants and 13.97 million dollars in total prizes, though the time window is unconfirmed. Source: Sherlock public ranking page
The money
no figure
How sure we are
No figure
Released

The full story

  • How the money is made
  • How we know
  • Where the number could be wrong
  • What it would take to try something similar
  • Legal notes in plain English

The full story is for subscribers

The blurred text is a placeholder, not the real thing.Subscribe

Earners

Fourteen buyers, but one of them paid almost everything

We checked itLegal position unclear

A small pay-per-call service took in 177.21 dollars in a month from 70 requests. Fourteen buyers appear, yet one of them paid nearly all of it.

The money
100 to 1k USD a month
How sure we are
We checked it
Released

The full story

  • How the money is made
  • How we know
  • Where the number could be wrong
  • What it would take to try something similar
  • Legal notes in plain English

The full story is for subscribers

The blurred text is a placeholder, not the real thing.Subscribe

Research and education only, not advice. Every figure says how sure we are. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Up and down to move, Enter to open, Esc to close.