Pornhub has recently announced it will now accept payments in cryptocurrency for its Premium services, as the world’s biggest payment companies cut ties.
Following outrage over instances of child abuse and assault in videos uploaded by unverified sources over a significant period of time, Mastercard and Visa suspended payment options on the site while they investigate if illegal videos were uploaded.
At the same time, Pornhub announced it was suspending all unverified uploaders and improving safeguards against such content making its way onto the site.
The company claims that they are being targeted by groups as a result of their adult content, as other social media platforms also have issues moderating and removing violent, abusive and content showing sexual assault.
“In today’s world, all social media platforms share the responsibility to combat illegal material. Solutions must be driven by real facts and real experts. We hope we have demonstrated our dedication to leading by example,” said Pornhub in a statement.
Fixing the payment problem
As a result of the freeze by Mastercard and Visa, customers can’t pay for Premium offerings and sex workers who are paid through the platform are also stuck.
Those who are committed to paying for Pornhub premium will now have to get in on the crypto game to continue accessing those extra features.
Pornhub now defaults to cyrptocurrency payment options for its Premium features. It had previously offered this service through on altcoin, Verge, but it has now expanded to accept 13 digital assets in total.
These include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Monero, Nem, Tether, Verge, Waves and ZCash.
These are all being leveraged through the payment processor Probiller.
This move was necessitated by the current payment crisis but ultimately is not surprising for the site, which requires heightened privacy for its users as a result of the adult content.
The company already has its own VPN, in attempt to improve privacy and bandwidth.
