Pornhub can no longer pay its models, who earn revenue from their videos, via Paypal. It therefore has decided to look into a few new payment options, and one of them is Tether (USDT). Pornhub won’t be using the Bitcoin (Omni layer) or Ethereum versions of Tether, either, but rather the one built on Tron.
Tron Porn
Tron getting USDT support was an interesting choice. Other blockchains like EOS still don’t have the token, but Tron does.
Pornhub writes on its blog:
The first bit of good news is that we added USDT to your payout options. For those of you who may not know, USDT is a cryptocurrency that follows the US dollar, meaning one USDT token is equal to one US dollar. USDT transactions can be done globally within a few seconds and there are no fees.
The porn site then instructs its models how to install the TronLink wallet and then acquire their USDT. It doesn’t go any further, like explain how to dump the USDT for actual cash.
You need a fair bit for actual redemption, but you can sell any amount on an exchange. The trouble is, not every exchange accepts USDT-Tron.
Fortunately for users who might have trouble cashing out their USDT-Tron, which is largely useful in things like trading other Tron tokens, the company has also found other ways to pay out, including something called Cosmo. Cosmo apparently gives every user a debit card they can use at an ATM, giving them liquidity from their earnings on the largest porn site.
Stablecoin Movement Runs Out of Steam
Tether seems to be making a comeback lately in the headlines, but has it ever really gone anywhere? The onslaught of new stablecoins in late 2018 didn’t actually displace Tether, and even when it was discovered that Tether doesn’t have the dollars to back all its tokens, no one really cared. People just keep on using it.
The position of other stablecoins hasn’t changed much, with the likes of USDC leading the pack.
The whole stablecoin boom seems to have cooled, and comes with a hint of boredom at this point. Not so very long ago, after the launch of several new contenders for Tether’s throne, stablecoins were all we could talk about.
More interesting in 2020 than a stablecoin is a Central Bank Digital Currency, a reality which we expect to see more and more. The topic is so intriguing that even the World Economic Forum is getting involved, issuing a framework for central banks to do digital currencies.
What’s interesting about Pornhub’s choice is the reasoning behind it. Pornhub hasn’t asked its models to accept cryptocurrency, but rather what it considers to be the equivalent of dollars. This is interesting because it shows a potential use case that others might come onto the project for the same thing.
It’s also hard to tell just how many people will be onboarded by this move, but the number is probably not small. The only question is how long before more merchants begin accepting Tether, regardless of what blockchain it’s on, in lieu of dollars.
