As bitcoin climbs to record values, many people are wishing they had invested in the currency sooner — while dozens of men who did buy it are giving it to a woman they’ve never met.

The woman, who calls herself Theodora, is a financial dominatrix, which means clients — many of whom never meet her in person — derive sexual pleasure from giving her gifts and money. Exchanges of money can range from several dollars in “tributes,” as they are called, to gifts of more than six figures. Some clients even become a “human ATM,” meaning they give her complete control over a bank account.

“It’s a form of psychological domination where money is the tool for the transfer of power,” Theodora said. “It’s quite common for powerful men like politicians or CEOs to look for a form of sexual release by submitting to a woman — they are in control all the time during the day — and giving up control financially is a more tangible instrument of power for them.”

“ ‘A lot of geek clients were really excited when I taught them how to build a mining rig for me so they could mine 24/7 from their home.’ ”

Based in Paris, Theodora has been working as a dominatrix for eight years and accepting cryptocurrency for four. She also specializes in “femdom hypnosis,” a process through which she says she’s able to dominate men using hypnotism. Her clients, all men, are in their late 30s to early 50s and usually come from the U.S. and the U.K., she said. They include a core group of 20 to 25 regular big spenders who make donations as high as $100,000 at once — some of whom she does “real time” sessions with in person — as well as 200 to 300 people who make smaller contributions online, most of whom never meet her in person. She communicates with them mostly online and by phone (she charges $25 a minute to call her and be ignored; $69 a minute to actually be spoken with).

As bitcoin BTCUSD, +4.30% ’s value continues to rise, her profits have increased. Theodora estimates she makes between $7,000 and $10,000 a month in cryptocurrencies, in addition to the $10,000 a month she earns by making video hypnosis sessions and financial domination videos, and donations from clients in dollars. She’s amassed well over $1 million in cryptocurrencies as they have taken off.

Financial therapist Debra Kaplan said financial domination is considered a consensual form of release for many people, especially men in high-powered jobs. “There are many people who feel it’s an exploitative relationship — but ask most submissives if it’s exploitative and they will say it is not,” she said. “They are willingly engaging in this.”

She added that sex workers switching to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payment is just “the natural progression” of the field, noting that the sex industry often drives innovation (think porn films and the evolution from VCR to streaming). “Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology will find its way into our economy anyway and this is just one such avenue,” she said.

Theodora claims to be the first dominatrix to create a hive of crypto followers, but she said many women are now attempting to follow in her footsteps. MarketWatch spoke with the unlikely crypto investor on how she pays her bills and what she thinks about the future of crypto.

MarketWatch: How long have you been working as a financial dominatrix?

Theodora: It’s been around eight years now but my online presence is quite recent. I was doing really well with very niche clientele, but now I have the ability to make it more mainstream. Thanks to social media, I can reach people who wouldn’t previously dare to delve into financial domination but now they can try it to some extent.

MarketWatch: When did you decide to start taking cryptocurrency?

Theodora: In this business of domination, it’s common for dominatrixes to take crypto payments. We cannot take PayPal because they blacklist sex workers. I have been making my clients mine for me for a couple of years.

[Mining is the electricity-heavy process of using computer power to verify cryptocurrency transactions — miners are given a monetary prize for their contributions, which Theodora routes to her wallet.]

MarketWatch: What is your crypto slave farm?

Theodora: It is a little tool where people use the resources of your computer to mine [cryptocurrency] for me from a distance. So even though it might be a tiny amount, I have quite a lot of traffic on my website so it adds up quite nicely.

MarketWatch: How do you make money in cryptocurrencies?

Theodora: I take donations and also have people mining for me. I take a lot of geek clients who like new technology and they were really excited when I taught them how to build a mining rig for me so they could mine 24/7 from their home.

MarketWatch: What other kinds of cryptocurrencies do you own?

Theodora: I have seven or eight different currencies — I see it a bit like play money and try to adjust to which is growing the most. If you anticipate growth, that’s where it will become interesting. Everyone is now interested in bitcoin because the growth has been exponential. Soon it will be too high for individuals to invest in, so you have to invest in others. I think it’s smart to have diverse portfolios of currency.

MarketWatch: Do you cash out your crypto or hold it?

Theodora: I hold it but it depends on the currency — I have my favorite currencies that I am betting on. Bitcoin could crash in two days, you don’t know what’s going to happen, so if you have enough to invest in smaller currency you should.

For me, it’s play money. You have to bet on several currencies to see what will happen, and if it’s your main source of income you have to be smart with it.

MarketWatch: How do you decide what to invest in? Do you have a background in finance?

Theodora: Funnily enough I learned via my clients because lots of them are high profile businessmen, so they know about money.

Here's why bitcoin might be much easier to regulate than cash

MarketWatch: How do you decide what to do with your clients’ money?

Theodora: Relinquishing control from them is not just them paying me — it is me holding their credit card, having access to their bank accounts, and determining how much they need to live and how much I can take from them. I need to put them right on the limit. The point of financial domination isn’t about taking everything they have and leaving them on the street — the fetish is controlled and consensual.

MarketWatch: Do you have to budget [for your clients?] then?

Theodora: It does involve a lot of budgeting. I have to ask them how much their mortgage is, how much they go out, and if it’s too often maybe we can cut out these expenses. Sometimes they realize they were spending on very futile things and they thank me for it.

MarketWatch: What is the biggest risk in the future of bitcoin?

Theodora: I’m a little wary of what is happening with net neutrality and regulation. If they regulate bitcoin we may have to buy more litecoin or monero. It’s moving all the time so you always have to think ahead. As long as people are creative with crypto and business in general they’re going to be fine.