Adult film star Brenna Sparks recently tweeted, "I'm going to be shoving a dildo in my vagina on the Blockchain tomorrow. If that's not the coolest thing ever, idk what is!" The statement ignited the crypto community. She is not the only performer warming up to blockchain technology. Startups such as Spankchain and Vice Industries are attempting to fuse intimate desires with software underpinning cryptocurrencies like ether, searching for a real-world, ready-now use case for blockchain.
Adult Industry: A Mature Use Case for Blockchain?
Corporate hype has attached "blockchain" to everything from iced tea to medical records, refugee crises, and even religion, but few projects have proven themselves beyond marketing. Pornography could be an honest-to-goodness use case. Sparks, a savvy businesswoman, teamed up with the cheeky project Spankchain, a micropayment processor for the masturbatory universe, aiming to eliminate embarrassing credit card charges for late-night indulgences. Spankchain raised close to 20,000 ether (over $5 million) in its ICO last year, funds used to develop the streaming system that Sparks eventually used to fulfill her tweet's promise.
Vice Industry Token: A $20 Million Token Economy Ambition
Another startup, Vice Industry Token Inc., raised about $20 million worth of ether in roughly a day. Its lavish website boasts that the VIT token can create "a resilient global utility token economy" where goods and services can be earned and traded internationally without barriers. "People will be free to earn VIT, to buy VIT and consume with VIT as a cryptocurrency," enabling users to get paid to watch and consume content, aiming to be "a vital link for interconnected global human prosperity." At its core, these platforms allow performers to be paid well, timely, and transparently without middlemen, while users gain financial anonymity. These platforms develop tipping mechanisms akin to sliding dollar bills behind garters during semi-private dances—now digital and on-chain. However, critics note that performers could simply operate their own cams and accept bitcoin cash directly, peer-to-peer, without any startup company in between.
Blockchain + Adult: Real Use Case or Gimmick?
Sparks herself cheekily tweeted, "I'm going to trademark all of my crypto camshow games... I'm going to be a Pablo Escobar of camshows, taking cuts off of other camshows." Her flamboyance, however, fuels deeper debate about blockchain usage. Is this a genuine real-world application, or just another layer of hype? Readers are invited to decide.