Yeah it's definitely marketing and users who win definitely aren't guaranteed to have been paying users anyways however lifetime proton plans historically have

Yeah it's definitely marketing and users who win definitely aren't guaranteed to have been paying users anyways however lifetime proton plans historically have auctioned for tens of thousands of dollars and presumably whoever ends up owning those auctioned off plans intend on getting their money's worth out of them. So it's no guarantee of lost revenue but I'd be willing to bet the bulk of those plans get some heavy use.