I suppose it is, because they paid out of their own pocket to keep it up. Which is quite baffling to me because they made no attempt whatsoever outside of bitcoin donations to monetise the site, even when they had a period of a few months where people were flocking to Voat from Reddit.
There was a short-lived partner program they ran for while back. The only other means of monetization I can think of is through ads. A new one appeared yesterday.
Edit: spelling.
Yeah the ad thing worked for a while but there are not a lot of new ones anymore. How many weeks/months has it been since the one yesterday?
But we only have their word on how much it all costs, and the funds that they have coming in. They could easily lie, and it definitely wouldn't be the first time a human did so. IMHO, they are profitable and have been for awhile. It's easier to fleece people from their kindness when they think you're doing them a favor.
They seem like busy people. Is Voat what they wanted it to be do you think?