PayPal's Axing of Pornhub Model Payments May Boost Crypto Conversions

Top adult entertainment site Pornhub may expand the range of cryptocurrencies it offers to pay performers for their work after PayPal abruptly cut off service.

"We currently pay out in verge and are evaluating adding other cryptocurrency payout options," Corey Price, a vice president at Pornhub, told CoinDesk Thursday.

More than 100,000 performers who relied on PayPal "for their livelihoods" were affected by its decision to discontinue the service, Pornhub said in a blog post earlier in the day.

The company said it was "devastated" by the move and called on those models with PayPal options selected in their accounts to use one of its other provided methods of paying out. These include direct deposits, checks and the verge cryptocurrency.

Pornhub announced it would accept verge payments in April of last year, saying it offered users privacy and convenience. The site also said it would accept tron and zcash last June, although these options weren't passed on as payout options to performers.

With PayPal now withdrawn, it may be that Pornhub performers will increasingly turn to the cryptocurrency option, especially as bank accounts may be frozen if banks get a hint that porn is related to the payments.

At press time, the price of verge (XVG) had risen 2 percent on the day to $0.003860, according to CoinMarketCap.

However, that possibility maybe be somewhat dampened by a lack of knowledge of how to use cryptocurrencies and convert them to more widely usable fiat currencies.

In Pornhub's Twitter announcement of the PayPal block, performer Shyla Jennings reflected that hurdle with the tweet:

"Crypto, personal portal... LOL. I don’t understand what that even is. I’m cool with just direct deposit into my bank account."

The thread is further littered with crypto community members calling for Pornhub to widen its payment options to other coins such as bitcoin, litecoin and others.

Dedicated adult industry crypto project SpankChain also made a twin promotion/PayPal criticism with the tweet: "Clearly somebody deserves to be Spanked."

UPDATE (Nov. 14, 19:30 UTC): This article has been updated to include additional information received from Pornhub.

Pornhub image via Shutterstock