- Pornhub has begun accepting cryptocurrency payments for its subscription-based service.
- The cryptocurrency is called Verge, a "privacy-focused" digital currency that emphasizes anonymity.
- Two of Pornhub's affiliate sites, Brazzers and Nutaku, will also accept payments in Verge.
Pornhub is now accepting payments for its premium content in a cryptocurrency called Verge, a "privacy-focused" digital currency which was created in 2014 under the name "DogeCoinDark." (It should be noted that DogeCoinDark has no relation to the currency Dogecoin, which was created one year earlier.)
As for why Pornhub is only accepting Verge cryptocurrency payments, a relatively obscure digital currency, a spokesman for the adult entertainment website said that its users specifically asked for it. A January 2018 post with close to 6,000 votes on Pornhub's suggestion page requested that the website start accepting Verge payments.
In a statement, Pornhub said that Verge's focus on providing user anonymity made it an obvious choice when it came to a cryptocurrency partnership on its site. "Verge is a secure and anonymous cryptocurrency, which is very near and dear to us here at Pornhub," the statement read. "[Verge] provides that extra layer of security many people look for, particularly in the adult entertainment industry."
On its website, Verge is described as a cryptocurrency which "improves upon the Bitcoin blockchain" and uses open-source software like Tor and I2P — both of which have been used in connection to the former trading site for illicit goods, the Silk Road. Pornhub's statement says that the currency allows for anonymous transactions "by obfuscating the IP address and geolocation of its users so that they are untraceable."
While the vast majority of Pornhub's revenue comes from ads that appear alongside its videos, the site generates a portion of its earnings from its streaming-subscription service, called Pornhub Premium, which provides users with access to ad-free videos and HD content. The company declined to share the percentage of revenue it receives from subscription-based content, but said that more than 2 million people had signed up since Premium's launch in 2015, and that the demand for subscription-based content is growing.
This is the first time that Pornhub's official website has accepted digital currencies, but subsidiaries of the site's parent company, MindGeek, have accepted cryptocurrency payments in the past. Just last month, MindGeek-owned Playboy.TV began accepting cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum on its platform.
Along with Pornhub's official site, two of its affiliate sites, production company Brazzers and adult gaming portal Nutaku, will also begin accepting Verge.
