Blockchain Revolution in the Adult Entertainment Industry

There is usually a symbiotic relationship between the adult entertainment industry and changes in technology. In fact, the pornography industry exploded with the invention of the World Wide Web in 1990 by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The porn industry prides itself to be technology conscious, and it’s usually at the forefront in adopting and popularizing an emerging technology. This has been historically witnessed in the early adoption and popularization of VHS tapes and internet payment systems. And with the immense growth of blockchain in recent years, the $97 billion online sex industry has quickly jumped on the tide exploiting the various benefits of the technology.

While practical uses of blockchain technology have been a hot topic since the rise of Bitcoin, adoption in the porn industry is rarely discussed. Nonetheless, blockchain has made enormous strides in the adult entertainment industry, with cryptocurrencies becoming increasingly popular in the billion-dollar industry. The privacy and anonymity property of cryptos have made it integrate seamlessly in the billion-dollar porn industry finding various use cases. Many adult entertainment websites have implemented crypto payment systems with a view of concealing the identity of their clients and also to enhance transparency.

The growth of crypto usage in the adult entertainment industry is quite enormous. A 2018 research conducted by VogoV established that there are 470 adult video sites, 50 webcam platforms, and 35 sex shops across the globe accepting cryptos as a form of payment. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg as the growth has been unprecedented. This piece will explore the status of crypto adoption in the adult entertainment industry, looking at the intensity of crypto usage in the industry.

Status of Crypto Adoption in Adult Entertainment Industry

Initially, crypto adoption in the porn industry was rather sluggish. Pornhub and Wicked were the first porn companies to flirt with the idea of accepting cryptos as a means of payment. However, these companies waited years before implementing crypto payment systems. Additionally, Bitcoin was the only form of payment. Thus the payment system was centralized as most porn sites couldn’t explore other means of crypto payments. Early on, there was little success in developing coins designed solely for the porn industry. For instance, Titcoin, the first porn-industry-targeted cryptocurrency aimed at facilitating payment of user’s daily jack-off sessions, failed miserably. Following its failure to take-off, Titcoin and its properties were acquired by adult game development studio Joy-Toilet on May 29, 2017, and later TittieCoin Developers on September 5, 2018.

Following the slow adoption of cryptocurrency in the adult entertainment industry, the real revolution seemed to kick off in the middle of 2017. Cryptos gained increased usability in the porn industry with major porn sites such as Naughty America, Amateur Canada, Hustler, Porn.com, and xHamster accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment. According to Xhamster’s project manager, cryptos provide avenues for growth of the porn industry as they offer different attributes than traditional payment providers. In an interview with Bitcoin.com, the project manager was quoted saying:

“Bitcoin profit is not as big compared to traditional billing methods yet, but it’s growing. And what’s very important for our members, it’s anonymous (actually pseudonymous). Bitcoin helps to avoid those awkward moments for guys when the credit card statement arrives, and the wife starts asking questions. Why do we, as the recipient, love Bitcoin? There are no chargebacks.”

There have also been partnerships between cryptos and porn sites to enhance service delivery to clients. A notable partnership is between Pornhub and Tron to allow Tron’s TRX cryptocurrency to be used as a means of payment on the giant porn site. The company also added ZenCash now known as Horizen as a means of payment for Pornhub purchases, which now include Pornhub Premium streaming service plus advertising services. VRPorn.com– the largest virtual reality site also partnered with Litecoin to accept LTC as payment currency for its premium services. Litecoin creator Charlie Lee is very enthusiastic about the use of cryptos in the porn industry, even calling out Pornhub to accept Litecoin as a means of payment on the site.

The penetration of cryptos in the porn industry is now as strong as ever. Today, the industry is among the top sectors that have had substantive use of cryptos. So much has cryptos penetrated the adult entertainment scene that it’s even being used as brothels as a means of payment. A notable example is The Legends Room- a strip club in Las Vegas that allows clients to pay anonymously using cryptocurrencies.

Strippers are provided with temporary tattoos of QR codes, and clients can scan and pay electronically by using cryptocurrencies, usually Bitcoin. Other porn platforms that accept cryptos as means of payment include CamSoda, Camgirl, Bacchusent Entertainment, and Playboy Plus, among others. Some porn sites exclusively accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. These platforms include Girls Gone Bitcoin, Strip 4 Bit, and Xotika.tv’s private adult section.

Crypto Coins and Infrastructure Launched for the Adult Entertainment Industry

Entrepreneurs from both the adult and crypto sector have launched coins tailored for the porn industry. These include:

1. SpankChain

SpankChain is an Ethereum based cryptocurrency payment processor focused on building blockchain-based economic and technical infrastructure for the porn industry. The platform recently partnered with the adult entertainment industry fan platform JustFor.Fans to create the SpankPay-a platform that will enable users to pay instantly using different cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ether, and Monero.

2. WankCoin

WankCoin is a virtual currency that runs on the Ethereum blockchain platform and designed specifically for the adult entertainment industry. The platform promises to provide a safe and secure way to pay for adult entertainment. It protects its users’ personal information plus prevents recurring payments, hidden charges, overcharging, or misleading cross-sales.

3. LiveStars

LiveStars (LIVE) is an adult streaming platform and social network with a mission of creating a webcam platform to create healthy competition in the porn industry. Essentially, it’s the first webcam platform in the online adult entertainment industry that leverages blockchain technology to eliminate intermediaries in the porn industry. It offers a 70%-80% revenue share with complete anonymity for models and affiliates. Additionally, users earn LIVE tokens for using the platform.

3. PornX

PornX is built on the Lightning Network, with the token being a decentralized ERC21 token on the Ethereum blockchain.

Porn Corn

Porn Corn was developed to offer anonymous transactions for VR, AR, 3D, and 8K porn content via the company’s proprietary service. It’s built on the Ethereum blockchain, and the ICO took place in November 2017.

Other notable crypto projects built for the porn industry include:

Animation Vision Cash, Eroiy, TittieCoin, Vice Industry Token, FAPcoin, SexCoin, SexService.io, VanillaPlay and Nocta among many others.

Why Blockchain Adoption is good for the Adult Entertainment Industry

The adult entertainment industry is not all rosy-it suffers from a myriad of problems. A notable problem in the porn industry is long-standing discrimination. Sex workers, as well as adult products and content companies, openly experience discrimination from financial institutions. Many banks as well as electronic payment platforms such as PayPal have banned sex workers from using there payment platforms. For instance, Visa blocked Epassporte-an online payment platform specifically for the adult entertainment industry, freezing money for tens of thousands of adult industry workers. There are numerous examples of such issues, and there are even claims that banks may cancel accounts of clients found to be working in the adult entertainment industry.

Blockchain adoption in the porn industry is beneficial to the consumers and models plus the companies. For consumers, cryptocurrencies provide much-needed anonymity and privacy. For the industry players, cryptocurrencies offer a seamless payment option to overcome the hurdles and censorship of traditional payment processors who are often openly discriminatory against them.

Cryptocurrencies use in the porn industry will also offer sex workers execute more control over their finance, thanks to crypto wallets. Wallets will make it difficult for pimps, brothels or corrupt government officials to pocket wages earned by sex workers. Additionally, blockchain will reduce human trafficking-an enormous concern in the porn industry. Human traffickers can easily be located using blockchain and be persecuted according to the law. In addition to these benefits, cryptocurrency systems have a lot to offer the adult entertainment industry and more products should be launched in this sector.

Final Thoughts

In recent times, there has been a surge in crypto adoption in the adult entertainment arena. Blockchain products are a boon for the massive porn industry. These products do not only ensure anonymity on the side of the consumer but also eliminates some of the biggest challenges in the porn industry, including discriminatory financial platforms and human trafficking. The adult entertainment industry may take some time to realize the full benefit of blockchain and associated technologies, but ultimately, it will transform the industry for the better.

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