The price of Verge (XVG) has jumped nearly 40% after reports came out revealing Pornhub was using it as a payout option for models, after PayPal blocked its payments.
Corey Price, vice president at Pornhub, revealed the cryptocurrency was one of the payment options speaking to CoinDesk, but added the company was evaluating adding other cryptocurrency payout options. He was quoted as saying:
We currently pay out in verge and are evaluating adding other cryptocurrency payout options.
Pornhub revealed earlier this week that over 100,000 adult entertainment performers who relied on PayPal payments “for their livelihoods” were affected by the online payment giants’ decision to stop servicing them.
The company said it was “devastated” and told models it had several other payment options, including direct deposits, checks, and the XVG cryptocurrency. Soon after the news came out investors seemingly turned bullish on verge, as CryptoCompare data shows it rose 40.4% in the last 24-hour period, to trade at 0.005317 USDt per token.
Source: CryptoCompare
It’s worth pointing out XVG is down by 51% in the last 12 months, as in November of last year it was trading at 0.1 USDt per token. The cryptocurrency’s network has been hit with numerous 51% attacks, and has been at the center of other controversies.
Last year Verge partnered with Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek, which said the cryptocurrency gave users privacy and convenience. The top adult entertainment website has, since then, added TRON’s TRX and Horizen (ZEN) as payment options, although it isn’t using these as options to pay performers.
In September of last year, the adult entertainment website revealed that less than 1% of its users were actually using cryptocurrency to pay for subscriptions. At the time, it said it expected to see widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology on its website “in the near future.”
Pornhub is likely considering other cryptocurrency options as while various performers have shown they prefer to use fiat currencies and receive payments via direct deposit, it’s possible banks and other financial institutions start blockchain transactions once they know where the funds came from.
Featured image via Unsplash.
