Pattern: Anthropic's Four-Month Subscription Arbitrage Arc Completes — From OAuth Crackdown to Billing Enforcement

paddo.dev·medium signal

Paddo.dev's April 4 analysis traces Anthropic's full four-month arc from initial technical blocks against third-party harnesses to today's billing enforcement. After hostile crackdowns failed to stop OpenClaw-style arbitrage, Anthropic shifted to 'use what you want, but pay for it' — keeping OAuth functional but routing third-party traffic through Extra Usage billing. The one-time credit and 30% bundle discounts signal a carrot-and-stick migration strategy rather than a hard cutoff.