LOS ANGELES — Cams, carnality, and cryptocurrency converge in a recent article about SpankChain and its “dark” vision for the future of adult e-commerce.
In “The Inside Story of SpankChain,” Decrypt author Ben Munster takes an in-depth look at the diverse personalities and profit-potential powering the breakthrough cryptocurrency and live cam ecosystem — straight from its “SpankHouse” overlooking SoCal’s storied Venice Beach — with insights from company co-founders Ameen Soleimani and William “Wills” de Vogeleare, along with performers Allie Eve Knox and Kiara Skye.
“Performers set up an account, link up their webcams, then film themselves naked [or] fully clothed, having sex, playing Mario Kart, baking brownies, tickling themselves, whatever,” Munster muses, asking, “And the feckless masturbators who watch them?”
“They pay for these performances, in cryptocurrencies,” Munster rhetorically responds. “Tipping certain amounts triggers specific actions set by the performer — ‘squirting’ and ‘vibratoy’ being the official suggestions on the original pitch deck.”
Delving into the company’s history, Munster noted that SpankChain is a decentralized micro-economy, funded by cryptocurrency and built on Ethereum that stands out from many competitors in that it is actually being used, boasting some 4,000 fans enjoying 700 performers worldwide.
“By affording its performers financial sovereignty, through cryptocurrency, SpankChain has already solved a litany of problems faced in the adult industry,” Munster explained. “Sex workers say that banks and payment providers, such as PayPal, sometimes freeze their accounts to shield themselves from the stigma. Providers issue refunds, or “chargebacks,” to the accounts of viewers caught with their pants down, at the expense of the performers themselves.”
The article details the launch of SpankChain’s “BOOTY” cryptocurrency and Spank.live cam platform, plus the challenges of fundraising, and the value of micropayments for cam models and other people who have been discriminated against by banks, teasing future plans for a “SpankPay” service that will integrate SpankChain’s micropayment channels with other porn sites.
“Porn leads adoption because people need to get their fix, and they don’t care how they do it, and they’ll jump through extra hurdles to, like, wank,” de Vogeleare confided. “A guy will like, you know, sign up for a fucking wallet and go through all the bullshit and get his private key so that he can, you know, get off.”
Munster’s article drills down into the business and economic challenges faced by SpankChain (and other adult cryptocurrencies, as well as all adult-friendly companies seeking mainstream backing or financing), providing a revealing glimpse at the reality of tawdry tech and the visionaries behind it.
“I’m happy to be a porn tycoon,” Soleimani concluded. “But the reason that I started SpankChain was because I thought it was a good use case for the technology — for both blockchains and micropayment channels, specifically.”
The full Decrypt article can be read here.
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