As a reminder, cryptocurrencies are virtual, completely decentralized currencies. There are no coins or banknotes, and there is no intermediary involved in the transaction, as is usually the case with a bank transfer. This makes for much faster transactions, with lower fees.
Today, there are many, many cryptocurrencies, and all of them are based on the same system, the blockchain, a computer network used to validate, secure and store all transactions. Thanks to blocks that are generated one after the other, forming a block chain, it hosts and communicates all information and transactions concerning the currency in question in a transparent manner.
However, there are different blockchains, and not all cryptos are compatible with all blockchains.
Finally, as bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency and the origin of the blockchain protocol, all other cryptos, i.e. alternative “coins” or alternative currencies, are referred to as altcoin. There are thousands of them, and they work in much the same way as bitcoin, although they have been developed using different protocols to give rise to different projects.
Pornhub, the king of porn sites, is one of the most consulted websites in the world, with an audience of at least 3.5 billion monthly visits and content of over 6 million videos uploaded every year.
At the end of 2020, following a controversy, the site was accused of hosting child pornography and rape videos. Even though Pornhub has denied such allegations, the platform has still been cut off by Visa and MasterCard, who no longer wish to be associated with the site.
As a reminder, Paypal had already blocked Pornhub in the same way in 2019, and the platform had since gradually added cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as a means of payment for premium services, leading us to wonder whether porn could become one of the vectors for the development of cryptocurrency usage as it did for other technologies in the past such as VHS tapes and DVDs before the rise of the internet.
In response to Visa and MasterCard sanctions and Internet users no longer being able to pay for premium content with their credit cards, Pornhub has decided to only allow payments in cryptocurrencies in certain regions such as North America, the UK and Singapore, and has added up to 13 cryptocurrencies to purchase content, including Monero which is an altcoin reputed to allow 100% anonymous transactions.
Pornhub subsequently announced a program to purge its platform of illegal content, after stating that Visa and MasterCard’s decision would mainly penalize content creators. ” If artists can no longer accept Visa and MasterCard, they will earn less money, which is problematic because many people use it as their main source of income.”
Some actresses and actors were even offered the chance to set up their own online wallets to receive payments in USDT (or Tether), one of the stable dollar coins. Stable crypto-currencies (stable coins) aim to replicate the value of an asset, such as the dollar in the case of Tether, without being subject to market volatility.
While cryptos allow users greater discretion, and platforms to have fewer credit card fees, their use could above all enable platforms of the kind to not rely on traditional payment methods.
Even if some would have preferred them to be used for more “noble” exchanges, this is yet another validation of their function as currency.
On September 23, 2010, on the bitcointalk forum, the founder of bitcoin was quoted as saying “Bitcoin would be convenient for people who don’t have credit cards or don’t want to use the cards they do have, either because they don’t want their spouse to see it on the bill, or because they don’t trust giving their number to ‘porn guys’, or because they’re afraid of recurring billing.” Satoshi Nakamoto.
With the internet, porn stars have seen their sources of income shrink ever further, although paradoxically they’re gaining a bigger fanbase and making a name for themselves. Indeed, the issue of content creators not being adequately remunerated has recurred for years in the X-rated industry, and has prompted many of them to turn to new platforms like OnlyFans, which enable them to interact directly with their community and manage their business themselves in order to reap greater benefits. However, given the problems that have arisen on these platforms, it was only a matter of time before we saw similar projects on the crypto side!
In August 2021, difficulties with banks prompted the OnlyFans platform to announce plans to ban the sexual content that has nonetheless contributed to its popularity. This episode could accelerate the move to cryptocurrencies to enable anonymous payments outside the traditional banking system.
An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a digital format that allows any virtual object or digital asset to be associated with a certificate of authenticity registered on the blockchain, whether it’s an image, a photo, a gif, a video…
Pokmi initially called RarePorn is a French project combining NFT and adult content, born in May 2021 from two entrepreneurs, Nils Lataillade and Marco Garniga, and a big French name in the adult content industry, Fred Coppula.
In August 2021, Pokmi closed its first ICO (Initial Coin Offering, a method of raising funds during the start-up phase of a project), raising $10.7 million through the sale of nearly $1.5 billion worth of PKN, the token created by the platform. The Pokmi team, now well established in Los Angeles, is 100% public, and is supported by several major adult content stars, as well as being featured in numerous national and international newspapers.
The white paper (a digital document presenting the project behind the creation of a cryptocurrency to investors) has been available on the site since the ICO was announced.
The platform’s goal was to create an ecosystem to connect porn industry stars and amateur content creators with their fans through the buying and selling of NFT, enabling images, videos and other digital assets called NFP to be sold to its community. “Non Fungible Porn tokens” on the platform.
Pokmi aims to be a porn version of Instagram, a marketplace and streaming platform, where you pay with Poken (PKN) to acquire content posted as NFT by one of the content creators you follow. Users can also buy collectibles such as underwear worn by their favorite actress, heels, erotic videos and more. It’s also possible to tip creators and industry stars, in return for which viewers can be rewarded by the platform, in PKN, when they watch sponsored content.
For the moment, X star Cléa Gaultier holds the sales record on Pokmi, with one of her panties selling for 12,000 euros.
To date, Pokmi is one of the few decentralized, functional platforms for adult content on the blockchain.
Such a project would therefore offer a fairer model, avoiding revenge porn or any other undesirable content on platforms of this kind, and would be more ethical and transparent to content creators, who would be better remunerated. The project would also enable platforms to censor less by offering adults quality, unique, secure and authentic content thanks to blockchain, and finally allow certain actresses to sell personalized content without going through a third-party company that would take a large commission on the transaction.
According to the platform PKN would be the best way to best change the uncensored industry “PKN is intended to transform the world of digital content towards more ethics, transparency and fairness for creators and consumers, thanks to Blockchain technology and NFTs.”
In addition, the use of a payment method other than credit cards also enables the site to avoid incidents with payment solutions such as Visa, MasterCard and others. Content creators won’t have to worry about suddenly losing their livelihood. This fear was echoed when OnlyFans, under pressure from its financial partners, announced that pornographic content would no longer be allowed on their site, before finally retracting the announcement.
Finally, thanks to blockchain and cryptocurrency, Pokmi solves the problem of minors’ access to adult content via the KYC (Know Your Customers) identity verification process, especially as the government wants to make age verification compulsory on adult platforms, even though it’s virtually impossible for a site to be sure of the majority of its users.
Cryptocurrencies and the charm industry are quite complementary markets, and their association seems to be of interest to many. Here are a few more examples:
CumRocket whose aim, according to its creators, is to “take pornography, a multi-billion dollar industry, and put it on the blockchain.”
In the company’s white paper, the founders explain that CUMMIES, the platform’s currency, will be used to pay for adult content, but also to provide anonymity to its users, whether buyers or content creators, “which some popular platforms don’t provide”.
So to promote it, Cumrocket called on a famous pornographic film actor to sell it as “the crypto version of OnlyFans”.
Nafty, a blockchain company that produces decentralized NSFW platforms, has sought to differentiate itself by diversifying its activities with the three platforms it offers on what appears to be a well-rounded ecosystem. NaftyTV is a private platform offering premium pornographic videos for a monthly subscription fee. To set itself apart from the sector’s many competitors, Nafty is offering a 50% discount on credit card payments for payments made via the platform’s cryptocurrency, NAFTY. Although they’re starting to build up a large catalog of content, the question remains as to whether they’ll succeed in making big partnerships like Pokmi.
NaftyFan, we wonder where they got the name, is a platform that lets you subscribe directly to a person’s private space, interact with them and view the content they propose.
NaftyArt, dedicated to NFTs on the theme of eroticism, is the platform where content creators, well-known or otherwise, will be auctioning off their NFTs. NaftyArt aims to provide a platform for erotic artists and creators of adult content to promote and sell their work without fear of it being deleted or their accounts banned.
In conclusion, whether it’s due to the working conditions of sex workers or the dissemination of stolen and illegally distributed images, more and more players are now standing up to offer a more respectful and secure industry.
What’s more, porn stars, as well as sex and adult entertainment workers, could turn to cryptocurrencies for remuneration, after experiencing a series of problems with the traditional financial system.
“I paid the price on my own site: from one day to the next, my payment provider told me to stop, and I found myself with nothing” Nephael, creator of erotic content for over ten years and Pokmi ambassador.
For Jeff Dillon, Nafty’s Director of Development, the OnlyFans episode was an excellent marketing campaign.
The sex industry has paved the way for other web innovations, such as credit card payments, and could do so again with digital currencies. The X sector could even help democratize the use of NFTs, as the attractiveness of the sector could make their use commonplace.
“The arrival of NFTs on the adult content market will clearly help to bring them to the general public. Nils Lataillade, co-founder of Pokmi
” Pornography has often been a pioneer in the take-off of new concepts, whether it’s VHS or online credit card payments, or even the Internet… So I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s pornography that makes cryptocurrencies mainstream.”. Adreena Winters, British X-actress.
That said, while on the one hand it will help bypass some of the restrictions of the current banking system, some fear that cryptocurrencies will not only bring benefits, but attract a clientele seeking anonymity for more immoral reasons.
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