LOS ANGELES — SpankChain has shuttered its cryptocurrency payment processor SpankPay after two incidents involving its infrastructure partner Wyre.
The first incident took place in January, when Wyre temporarily ceased service due to funding issues, forcing SpankPay to shut down as well.
Service resumed a few days later after Wyre received a funding infusion, but SpankPay was forced to shut down again in early February after supposedly violating the company's user agreement, according to SpankPay founder Ameen Soleimani.
"Understandably, this came as quite a shock to the SpankPay team, seeing as their relationship with Wyre had been mutually supportive and respectful up until this point," said a rep.
"Since the second service interruption, SpankPay has been searching tirelessly for another infrastructure partner," the rep continued. "The struggle to find one has only underscored the deeply prejudicial nature of legacy finance culture and the ways in which legal sex workers and sex work companies are unfairly targeted and discriminated against."
According to the company, it will continue to focus on its SpankMatch social networking platform, as well as invest in the NFT subscription platform and marketplace Mintstars.
"This pivot will allow the company to better serve adult professionals while continuing to make a positive impact on the adult industry as a whole," the rep added. "Rest assured your money is still safe."
Users who still have remaining balances on SpankPay will be contacted via email with instructions on how to withdraw their funds.
For more information, email support@spankchain.com.
