The world's largest adult website Pornhub has revamped its payment system for premium memberships. Following the abrupt termination of payment processing agreements by Mastercard and Visa last week, the platform now exclusively accepts cryptocurrencies for its subscription plans.
Background: Financial Blockade Forces Shift
According to Similarweb, Pornhub ranks as the 10th most visited website globally, with over 42 billion visits last year and more than 11,000 hours of video watched per minute. Traffic surged during COVID-19 lockdowns. However, concerns over content compliance led Mastercard and Visa to sever ties, eliminating credit card purchases for Pornhub's premium services.
Premium plans start at $9.99 per month or $95.88 per year. The Pornhub shop page now states: "Unfortunately, we are unable to accept credit cards at this moment." Users must turn to digital assets.
13 Supported Cryptocurrencies
Leveraging payment processors Probiller and Pumapay, Pornhub supports 13 digital assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dash (DASH), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), NEM (XEM), Tether (USDT), TRON (TRX), Verge (XVG), Waves (WAVES), and Zcash (ZEC).
Community Reaction: A Milestone for Crypto Adoption
The move ignited excitement on crypto forums. On Reddit's r/btc, users hailed it as "one of the biggest news of the year for adoption." One commenter noted: "Credit cards aren't even an option. This is huge." Another added: "Pornhub is massive. It will bring normies into crypto who just need an uncensorable payment method."
With centralized options like PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa completely blocked, cryptocurrency becomes the sole gateway for premium access. Analysts view this as both a regulatory setback for Pornhub and a powerful real-world use case for digital currencies, highlighting their role in censorship-resistant transactions.