Many people are increasingly using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to accept payment for goods and services while also safeguarding their funds.
Regulations and bank policies aimed at combating sex trafficking have made it more difficult for sex workers and adult performers to operate, particularly online.
Allie Eve Knox creates adult content.
She creates sexually suggestive videos, sells subscription services on platforms like OnlyFans, performs live via webcam, and works as a findomme – short for financial dominatrix, a fetish involving dominance-submission dynamics and cash.
The Texas native is also a strong supporter of cryptocurrency.
Allie Eve Knox describes herself as “one of the most outspoken sex workers told CNBC, particularly for crypto.” Her interest began in 2014, when she claims several vendors, including PayPal, Square Cash, and Venmo, shut down her accounts due to red flags related to sex work.
As a result, Knox began to accept cryptocurrencies instead. Her first bitcoin exchange for content was fairly informal.
It all began with a Skype call with a client. “At the time, I had a Coinbase account, and he said, ‘Hold your QR code right here to this camera here,’ and he sent it through the camera.” “And I got it,” she said.
It took 15 minutes, and there were no chargebacks, website commission fees, or bank intermediaries to reject the transaction – all of which are significant advantages in her industry. The most appealing aspect, however, was having complete and irreversible control over the money she had earned.
“I’d be able to cash it out.” I was able to keep it. “I could watch it go up and down,” Knox explained.
“I owned it.” Knox Said
Knox is one of many adult workers who claim that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin provide them with a sense of security and independence as banks, credit card companies, and payment processors tighten their regulations on adult content. With crypto, there is no middleman deciding which transactions are acceptable.
OnlyFans and the policy whiplash
Anyone who engages in some type of erotic labor, whether virtual or in person, is classified as doing sex work.
“The majority of sex work in the United States is legal.” “It’s not treated correctly, but it’s still legal,” said Kristen DiAngelo, a Sacramento-based activist and sex worker with over four decades of experience. “Stripping, massage, and escorting are all legal. The only thing that is actually unlawful in the United States is the honest exchange of sexual conduct for remuneration, for money.”
Some escorts now explicitly declare that they prefer to be paid in bitcoin or ethereum in their advertisements. They charge anything between $1,700 per hour and $11,000 for a full day.
Performers on the popular subscription video site OnlyFans, many of whom operate completely online and have never seen their customers or fans in person, are also part of the sex work business.
Allie Rae, a 37-year-old mother of three boys, claims that because to her work on OnlyFans, which has over 130 million users, she moved from making roughly $84,000 a year as an ICU nurse in Boston to $1.3 million.
