Porn Industry Stars Turn To Cryptocurrency To Protect Profits While Fighting For Banking Access (Newsweek)

Read the full article by Benjamin Fearnow at Newsweek.com 

Adult film's top figures say blushing bankers and a scared Silicon Valley write off the porn business as a "dirty little secret" even as a younger generation of viewers and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs attempt to bring it closer to mainstream corporate America.

Stars including Karma Rx, Cory Chase and former Boy Meets World actress Maitland Ward command millions of social media followers. But they still find themselves brushing away "catfished" fans demanding their duped money back and tell of having to ask their own friends and family, "why are you whispering?" when discussing their careers. Gamma Films director Bree Mills told Newsweek Thursday that porn's embrace of women and minorities is "always ahead of the curve" compared to its Hollywood counterparts, but that "stigmatized and stereotyped" producers still get little respect.

That lack of acceptance means a lack of access: to business loans, advertising platforms, court appeals and the ability to conduct potentially risqué transactions without the interference of corporate processors.

To understand the glaring discrepancies between the mainstream business world and adult performers, consider MyFreeCams.com, which hosts about 9,000 live streams at any given moment and calls itself "the #1 Adult Webcam community." Hundreds of thousands of "cam girls" connect performers with fans for private chats, stripteases or to discuss an exchange of "whatever weird things you're into," says camgirl-turned-cryptocurrency-mogul Allie Eve Knox.