What has exactly happened?
CivitAI removed the ability to use (free) blue buzz for NSFW generation without prior warning to users. This means any saved up blue buzz by liking other people's content, rating your own generated content or posting content, cannot be used unless it's within CivitAI's SFW sister website called CivitAI Green.
Why has this happened?
CivitAI has a fairly razor thin profit margin, if any insider information is to be believed. They could even be in a deficit at this point. But true details are merely speculative.
As Sora 2, Nano Banana & more entice surface-level AI users. CivitAI holds a unique demographic that use their online tools to generate images, fine-tune their works & post them within their 'social media' type platform that boasts a creator program.
But the majority of those users are NSFW content creators. Why? Well, because of the safe-guards in place on the more accessible, conglomerate owned AI image/video generators, those who wish to learn the tools to create NSFW, will. That's the audience CivitAI thrives with.
Unfortunately, there just isn't a profitable market for it if card companies like VISA & Mastercard dictate it with an iron fist. And because of this, they've had to expedite the enshitification of their product to earn profits in a more undesirable SFW market.
An appropriate, final 'thank you' to NSFW specific users. Would have been to convert the remaining blue buzz of non-CivitAI Green users into yellow. The website used to give Yellow Buzz for likes after all, so it wouldn't have been an unusual thing to do.
However, because their product is likely not making a profit, they cannot afford to keep their legacy users happy. And in my opinion, this will be the penultimate downgrade before they completely remove the NSFW section of the website & seek capital funding.
What will happen next?
In order for the NSFW side of CivitAI to survive. Is to force all of it's users to become paying customers. With alternatives like Tensor Art still offering a free alternative for users, it likely means they'll lose the majority of their audience.
But even in the best case scenario, having the NSFW section of the website exist in the first place, will hamstring their ability to find additional funding required to grow the company. It is true that CivitAI could have severed this section of their business immediately to keep VISA & Mastercard, them keeping it alive is merely so they can softly close it down, in hopes that they can convert the majority of their audience to SFW generation in the process.
In my opinion? I give it 12 months.