Page 52 - AVN February 2018

FEATURE
FEATURE
CRYPTO BOOM
Understanding the risks and rewards of digital assets, transactions
By Lauren MacEwen
to more than $19,000 in December of 2017. This meteoric rise brought Bitcoin back into mainstream conversation,
Bitcoin has exploded into the spotlight and isn’t likely fading any time soon. In 2017 Bitcoin went from $1,100 in January
though many are wondering if it has truly crossed the bridge into mainstream adoption. With the rise of Bitcoin, and
Bitcoin awareness, where does that leave adult entertainment in the mix? What does the future of Bitcoin look like and
how does that intersect with the adult industry?
The adult industry is no stranger to cryptocurrency. Many people in adult have been accepting cryptocurrency on their sites
for years. I began accepting Bitcoin at 7veils.com as a payment method for social media marketing services in 2013. When
people ask me why 7 Veils accepts Bitcoin, the response is simple, I don’t want to limit the ways in which people can pay for my
services.
Steven Grooby, founder of Grooby.com, said, “We’ve been taking BTC payments through since 2013. I’m amazed that
websites still aren’t taking it, and they always seem surprised when I tell them we make sales on it. We went from making a
couple of sales a week, to a couple of sales a day. It’s not huge numbers, but anyway to get a customer to purchase works for me.
Over that time we’ve paid producers in BTC, we’ve cashed out some and left the rest in BTC so the growth in capital has really
been a boon.”
There are many people in adult that have issues with traditional payments methods. “Institutional bias has made it near
impossible for sex tech entrepreneurs to rely on traditional mechanisms of payment and identification,” said Leah Callon-Butler,
engagement director at Intimate.io. “The cost of doing business is exorbitant—with some of our clients having told us that they
were forced to pay banking fees upward of 20 percent—while many mainstream banks and payment gateways, such as PayPal,
won’t deal with retailers in this space at all.
“This stigma and social exclusion has long prevented innovation in the sector, but now, we are launching a new
cryptocurrency to revolutionize the future of adult to make transactions safely, reputably and privately through a decentralized
network.”
Because Bitcoin is decentralized, meaning banks are not involved, institutionalized bias is irrelevant when making payments
on the direct peer-to-peer network. This makes Bitcoin a very attractive payment option for the adult industry. For industry
professionals it also makes launching their own coin that may address some of the issues with Bitcoin potentially desirable. In
the past, ICOs (initial coin offerings) in adult have been lackluster, such as the rise and fall of Titcoin. With the development
of more alt-coins, such as Ethereum and Ripple, and a deeper understanding of what can be accomplished with the blockchain,
coin developers are in a unique position to offer an ICO that addresses the needs of specific industries.
52 | AVN.com | 2.18