UK Male Escort Uses Bitcoin to Bypass Censorship

Bitcoin continues to prove its censorship resistance every day. In fact, a male escort from the UK explains how he uses Bitcoin to bypass restrictions in his field of work in an editorial published by the NewStatesman.

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Escort Picks Bitcoin Over PayPal

Sex workers is a taboo subject, and certain groups and governments have shown they are against these types of occupations. However, those who participate in this line of work believe it is their decision. Now, thanks to the digital age they are overcoming obstacles preventing them from working in the escort business. Bitcoin has helped Oz, an Australian male escort working out of London, to get over these legal obstructions.

Oz uses social media and cryptocurrency with his phone and laptop to boost his escort business. The sex worker maintains a website and has recently participated in a Reddit Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) so people could learn about his escort life.

One thing Oz stressed is being paid in this line of work is a difficult task and often time people have to accept large sums of cash, which puts them in danger of theft and even violence. PayPal is not convenient either as Oz details to the NewStatesman:

I prefer not to use bank accounts. And you can’t really use PayPal for that kind of thing because they ban you if they think you’re doing sex work.

However, cryptocurrency has given Oz an advantage as he uses it to bypass banking and PayPal censorship. It’s not an easy process to teach his clientele about Bitcoin, he explains, but when he gets them to learn about it, he prefers to be paid this way. Oz uses the cryptocurrency to remain pseudonymous in the escort business and also obscures his face in all of his pictures. Both PayPal and FindFace facial recognition technology is thus avoided. Oz explains:

I blur my face because of the progress of facial recognition and reverse image search technology.— When I work for overseas clients, I get them to pay me in Bitcoin, if they can figure that out. It’s pretty alien to some of my clients— lots are middle-aged and older, and not all that tech-savvy.

Bitcoin Pseudonymity Protects Users

Oz isn’t the first escort to utilize Bitcoin to overcome legal hurdles. In 2013, the website birminghamescorts.co.uk became one of the first escort agencies to use the cryptocurrency. On Adam Levine’s Let’s Talk Bitcoin Episode 78, Mistress Magpie discussed how Bitcoin is used in the escort business. Additionally, the Bitcoin exchange Paxful has taught sex workers on BackPage how to use Bitcoin as well when credit card companies refused to do business with the website.

Bitcoin has shown time and time again the many attributes of using the network in any censored trade. With the popularity of escort services online and impending legal implications towards these workers, Bitcoin is the perfect fit for sex workers just trying to make a living. Fortunately, Bitcoin doesn’t judge what kind of line of work you are in as consenting adults should be able to make their own decisions.

What do you think about Bitcoin used in the escort service business? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via the NewsStatesman