Crypto in the Adult Industry
Emerging Technology and the World's Oldest Profession: Crypto in the Adult Industry
The adult industry, which includes porn, sugar babies, escorts, domination, strip clubs, and prostitution, has played an important role in technological adoption. Many people have credited porn for helping VHS win over Betamax, and we now take for granted digital cookies and online shopping carts that were necessary to make online porn a reality. These relationships continue in 2024 with crypto and the blockchain.
In many ways, crypto and the adult industry go hand in hand. One needs adopters while the other needs a secure and private way for payment to exchange hands. Cryptocurrency offers an alternative for adult industry websites as well as individual performers and providers who struggle to find banks or other financial institutions that will accept them as clients. Creators all too often find themselves banned from payment platforms for violating their terms of service or unable to access bank accounts that have suddenly been closed, sometimes blocking them from accessing thousands of dollars. Paypal, Venmo, and other financial platforms or institutions often proactively remove users to prevent backlash from credit card processors such as Visa and MasterCard, which refuse to work with adult content, but cryptocurrency doesn't require an intermediary.
Removal of that middleman also means fewer fees for websites or performers to pass on to clients. That's a stark difference for adult content creators who sometimes have to pay twice as many fees for financial services as those outside of the adult industry. Another benefit for providers is a decrease in credit card chargebacks, which are common in the adult industry. Crypto provides privacy for users who are concerned about their online activity being tracked by their banks or even people with whom they share accounts–and hiding such activity might be one reason for the high level of chargebacks.
There are two approaches to using crypto in the adult industry, and the first commonly involves those who are already in sextech and want to leverage the blockchain. For them, cryptocurrency may be a natural progression, and several new coins serve the adult industry specifically, including Cum Rocket, Taboo Token, Porn Rocket and Pleasure Coin. Cum Rocket has already acquired Intimate, the self-proclaimed cryptocurrency "for grown ups".
Of course, others in the industry have adopted crypto that already exists, including Pornhub, which accepts payment via Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Litecoin, and Ripple, among others. SkyPrivate, which connects models with viewers over Skype, also accepts crypto payment, although OnlyFans has yet to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. This means buyers and sellers can adopt crypto without having to move platforms. That ease may be necessary because some performers have struggled to encourage the use of crypto in the adult industry because their clients prefer to pay with gift cards or other means, which they find easier to use.
Tech-savvy professionals in the adult industry won't stop at crypto, either. Performers have sold NFTs, and entire markets, including PleasurenNifty, have risen in response to these exchanges. The blockchain can also be used to facilitate age verification of both performers and viewers, an essential function in the industry. Sexcoin has also already developed webmaster kits and a QR code network and is in the process of creating a developer SDK and cam chatting based on the blockchain. Even adult clubs are getting in on the action, using tokens to verify identity and membership before granting entry, and platforms tout the increased security that blockchain-based identification services can offer.
Tomorrow's hottest platform or currency may not even exist yet, but a partnership between crypto and the adult industry may push both further than they can go alone.
Written by NicoleM