Back in 2018, there was a flurry of adult-related cryptocurrency projects, products and companies announced. Cryptocurrency wasn’t “new” to the industry at the time, of course; some adult platforms have offered their customers the ability to pay in crypto going back nearly a decade.

The flurry of activity in 2018 still stands out though, in part because many of the efforts announced in that time frame have since faded, or even failed outright.

Standing in stark contrast to those disappearing acts is SpankChain – although as SpankChain CEO Ameen Soleimani is quick to point out, his company had its struggles along the way too, some of which flowed from an initial reluctance to trust in cryptocurrency on the part of many people, merchants and consumers alike.

“We were out there trying to get people to take crypto seriously, evangelize for it as an alternative payment solution, but people didn’t take it seriously because there were so many scams,” Soleimani recalls. “But now, the product we built has finally found its footing.”

If ever there was a time for the adult industry to embrace a crypto gateway like SpankPay, the one SpankChain is building, that time is now. To understand why, all one need do is look at the recent Pornhub/VISA/Mastercard dust-up. If VISA and Mastercard are willing to summarily dump one of the largest brands in the adult industry, what does that say for the stability of the adult industry’s relationships with credit card companies, writ large?

“One thing’s for sure, you will never be shut down by SpankPay for being a sex worker, or for being a part of the adult industry,” Soleimani says, “because we’re part of the adult industry and our whole reason for existence is to serve sex workers and this industry.”

This adult-specific orientation and perspective, combined with the nature of cryptocurrency, enables SpankPay to prioritize another major concern for adult performers and content creators – their privacy. For example, suppose a cam model is accepting tips from customers via SpankPay; those tips will never be associated with the real identity of either the model or the client. Debit card payments made through SpankPay display under the name “Wyre,” SpankPay’s payment provider. The legal name of the model holding the SpankPay account is used for internal tax purposes only – and none of the model’s information is shared by SpankPay with anyone.

The crypto environment also presents another advantage over ‘traditional’ online payments: A pronounced lack of chargebacks.

“Because crypto payments settle within minutes, there are no chargebacks and you can withdraw your earnings immediately, either to your crypto wallet or to your bank account,” Soleimani explains, noting that “some restrictions apply” with respect to withdrawing to bank accounts located outside the U.S.

Getting set up with an account on SpankPay is as straightforward as the services the company offers. Account holders merely need to supply identification, basic tax information and banking information to facilitate transfer of funds from SpankPay to the merchant’s bank accounts.

From the perspective of longtime members of the adult industry, including any old-schoolers who may have resisted adopting a crypto payment solution, the most attractive aspect of SpankPay may be its simplicity, from the merchant’s perspective.

While the technology behind it may be complex, the service SpankPay offers is extremely straightforward. The platform serves as a hosted cryptocurrency wallet and payment processor, enabling merchants to accept cryptocurrency through an easily installed SDK (software development kit). For models and content creators, SpankPay offers the ability to create a “SpankPay Me” link, which can then be provided to anyone who wishes to pay the model/creator in crypto.

Model Brenna Sparks on SpankPay

“SpankPay is your gateway to the decentralized world,” Soleimani says. “Our secure, hosted wallet is easy to set up, can keep your earnings stable, and lets you cash out at any time.”

Keenly aware that many people are concerned with the much-publicized volatility of cryptocurrency, Soleimani notes that with SpankPay, account holders can choose have their crypto earnings automatically convert into stable currencies like USD– a potent salve against any sudden fluctuations in the market, at least with respect to sales already made.

“With SpankPay, you don’t have to hold on to crypto,” Soleimani reiterates. “You can accept crypto and just hold USD if you want.”

For individual entrepreneurs, be they sex workers, content creators selling clips or access to a premium Snapchat, the easiest route to accepting crypto is establishing a Spank Pay Me profile. When you first set up your Spank Pay Me profile, a link is automatically created that can be used immediately and shared with anyone who wishes to pay you in crypto. To receive payments, all you need to do then is share the link with your customers.

While he’s a passionate advocate of crypto and firm believer in its power to transform the adult industry, Soleimani knows crypto has a long way to go in terms of consumer adoption before it can even begin to supplant traditional currencies – despite the emergence of some high-profile advocates in recent years.

“Hey, Elon (Musk) bought in, so the risk must be gone, right? No way to lose money on crypto now!” Soleimani jokes, before adding “More seriously though, no – if you’re investing in crypto, you’re still taking a risk, just like when you invest in anything else.”

Using SpankPay isn’t necessarily an “investment” in crypto, though; it’s simply a means of accepting a new form of payment. In many ways, it’s analogous to accepting any foreign currency that you later plan to convert into your domestic currency. (The analogy isn’t perfect, of course, but if you’ve traveled the world much, then you know how volatile some currencies can be – the point where back in the 80s, I once went to bed while vacationing in Mexico with the peso trading at 1800 to 1 on the U.S. dollar, only to find by the time I went to breakfast the next morning the rate had changed to over 2300:1.)

“You don’t have to go ‘all-in’ on crypto to get a real benefit from it,” Soleimani observes. “This isn’t about ‘buying in’ to crypto; it’s about making customers of out of people who have already bought in to crypto.”

While the world-changing, revolutionary potential of cryptocurrency is sometimes overplayed by its most devoted evangelists – or, at least, the revolution promised at the dawn of crypto has yet to materialize – SpankPay certainly presents adult businesses and performers an opportunity to progressively reduce their dependence on ‘mainstream’ financial service entities like VISA. And if consumers do someday embrace crypto in far greater numbers, a gateway like SpankPay could enable the industry to lose that dependence entirely.

In the meantime, it’s more a matter of incremental change.

“The adult industry now has the ability to take power away from the payment processors,” Soleimani says. “Every crypto customer is one more person the processors can’t take away from you.” To that end, Soleimani was proud that SpankPay was able to kick off 2021 with a $100K BTC giveaway exclusive to sex workers—”everyone starts their crypto journey somewhere, and we’ve made SpankPay the best place to get started with crypto for the adult community!”