SpankChain’s crypto payment service for the adult industry is shutting down
SpankPay, a cryptocurrency payment service by Ethereum-based adult entertainment platform SpackChain, has shut down after crypto payment provider Wyre terminated its service agreement.
The platform also said it has continuously faced discrimination from traditional financial institutions.
SpankPay shuts down after Wyre termination
In a tweet thread on Monday, SpankPay shared an email sent by Wyre on February 9, 2023, informing SpankChain co-founder and CEO Ameen Soleimani of its intention to terminate the agreement between both parties. According to SpankChain, Wyre’s action came as a shock, considering the platform’s relationship with the payment provider has been “supportive and respectful.”
SpankPay also claimed that “the termination was a targeted shutdown of Wyre because their new payment processor, checkout dot com, does not work with adult businesses.”
While SpankPay said its users’ funds are safe, efforts to find new service providers have been met with roadblocks, as no one seems to want to provide financial services to companies operating in the adult entertainment business.
“Operating SpankPay in a hostile banking environment has always been challenging, but the escalating attacks have become unsustainable for our small team and the niche market we serve.”
Major adult site Pornhub faced a similar situation with traditional financial services, with PayPal ending support for payments to performers in 2019. Mastercard and Visa later blocked the use of their credit cards for transactions on the adult site in 2020 after a New York Times report alleged that the site showed child abuse, rape and revenge pornography.
Shortly after Mastercard and Visa stopped supporting Pornhub, the adult site said it would accept bitcoin and other crypto-assets for the platform’s premium service.
Combating discrimination against adult athletes
Meanwhile, SpankPay said it will continue to challenge bank discrimination against the adult industry “by engaging lobbyists and meeting with politicians in Congress.”
“As SpankPay is discriminated against due to the nature of its business, we are as motivated as ever to end these extra-legal censorship practices enforced by financial institutions. Thank you for being part of our community. The battle continues.”
SpanChain launched SpankPay in 2019 as a crypto payment processor that offered seamless and cheaper transactions for adult content consumers. The platform enabled users to make purchases and instant transactions using cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, ZEC, LTC and XMR.
