Given that it's a collaboration with OpenNode, my hunch is that it just means Substack will expose some kind of payment invoice that's integrated with ON behind the scenes.

Regarding whether or not it's worse for publishers, it might actually be better in the long run, since it instantly expands the potential market to... you know... all of humanity ⚡️

(Also, @koob, be wary of averages... this is probably skewed by people who never cancel 😂.)