Finder.com.au by Angus Kidman
When porn videos, anonymity and the blockchain collide
OPINION: Frankly, the most surprising thing about cryptocurrencies designed for the adult industry is that there haven’t been more of them.
Industry cliché has long held that porn producers are early adopters of new technology. The rise of video recorder sales in the 1980s is said to have been driven by the fact people could now watch blue movies in the privacy of their own home. In the Internet era, adult sites were charging for content long before ecommerce had even got its (kinky) boots on.
The most recent pretender to this filth-encrusted throne is PronCoin. PronCoin began selling tokens in January this year and plans to begin trading on exchanges under the symbol PRON in April. The initial offer will feature a maximum of 6,900 million tokens, with an ICO price of US$0.069 per token. (Great subtlety with the pricing there, PronCoin team.)
Conceptually, PronCoin takes a similar approach to TRON: creating a coin which can be used to pay adult stars (or studios) directly for their services. As CEO Zoran Rehar explained to industry trade title AVN:
Right now, big companies are cashing in and taking money from visitors. We believe that decentralising everything will be even better for the whole adult community because everyone can participate by uploading videos, sharing videos, posting likes, comments and more. PronCoin reward tokens will be distributed to all who will participate in building and expanding our platforms, including porn stars, expos, shows, strip clubs and so many other access points into our database.
While that’s a touching sentiment about people touching each other, PronCoin could also tap into another key insight: anonymity is a key driver for porn viewers. More than a decade ago, Richard Cohen, CEO of streaming provider Hotmovies.com, explained to me that keeping their habits concealed was a major driver for many of the site’s customers. “We get a lot of money orders from people who won’t want it on their credit cards,” he said.
Using a seemingly anonymous cryptocurrency is a natural hi-tech extension of that thinking, though potential browsers should remember that the level of anonymity which cryptocurrencies offer can vary hugely ..more..
