On the back of the news that Intimate.io is creating its own crypto payment gateway for adult entertainment websites to use, it’s time to look at how porn sites accepting crypto could impact the crypto market’s value. Many people seem to believe that porn holds the key to a bullish marketplace, but the reality is slightly different. While the adult entertainment industry is well known for being a pioneer of new technology – mainly high definition cameras and lossless compression algorithms – it doesn’t appear to be having the same effect on crypto, and this is why.
Who Pays for Porn Anymore?
In order for crypto payments on porn sites to even make an impact, you have to take a look at the number of people who already pay for porn. There are billions of free videos already available, covering almost every niche or fantasy you could possibly have. While some categories are slightly lacking when it comes to free porn, the people who have to pay for access to their kink are already doing so. Just because you can suddenly pay for porn using crypto doesn’t mean you’re going to sign up and start paying.
Premium Accounts Already Set Up
Sure, new people will start paying for premium memberships every day, but chances are it’s because they want access to the niche material, not because they can use crypto to access the product. For those people already with a paid membership to one of these sites, chances are they already have a card set up that’s not linked to their main bank. After the hassle of setting this up, there is a good chance they won’t suddenly change to crypto payments – meaning converting existing customers to a crypto payment method could be very tricky.
Crypto Purchases are Taxable
Most people who subscribe to premium porn accounts aren’t overly eager to announce it to the world. If you pay for your porn membership using crypto, it will be recorded as a taxable event and the taxman will be able to see what you’re spending your crypto on – even if you use a privacy-focused coin like Monero. It’s important to keep notes of all crypto purchases, as otherwise you could end up with a huge tax bill like one man from Sweden recently received.
Pornhub Has Been in the Crypto Game for a While
Pornhub – one of the biggest adult entertainment sites out there – has been in the crypto game since April 2018. Pornhub partnered with Verge to allow users to pay for their premium accounts with the privacy=focused crypto. True, Verge did see a temporary spike in transactions and price as soon as the announcement hit, but as the year rolled on, Verge’s gains quickly slipped away and it fell with the rest of the crypto market – proving that an adult entertainment partnership doesn’t guarantee long-term results.
Porn sites might be teaming up with more crypto projects on a weekly basis, but for now the news isn’t enough to fuel a bullish market. The porn industry could be helping mass adoption in the long run by educating people on how to make crypto payments, but the short term gains are few and far between.
