In the past few years, we have been hearing more and more about cryptocurrency as a form of payment. In June 2019, Facebook announced that it would be launching its own cryptocurrency, Libra. Libra is not like a typical cryptocurrency, so I hesitate to refer to it as such, since it has a few differences in its underlying structure.
It is partly a permissioned digital currency, which means that it does not have some of the privacy features that Bitcoin or Ethereum have. You have to reveal your identity and be approved to participate, so just like on the social media site itself, user anonymity is nonexistent.
Facebook will continue to censor adult content, block sex workers from its sites and not allow us to use this type of currency for payments.
Libra also is not decentralized, being instead centralized and controlled by early founders and adopters. Value transfers are still assigned through wallets and the transactions are public, but Libra doesn’t remove the central bank from the equation. Libra will function as a stable coin, which means it is backed by a currency, although not necessarily just backed by the U.S. dollar.
So. I’m sure you are thinking, “WTF,” right? All of this sounds really confusing… because it is. But, what does this mean for the adult industry?
It means a few good things and a few bad things. Some of the good things about Libra are that it will lead to greater crypto adoption, particularly with a large user base that has remained relatively unconvinced about crypto — the baby boomers. Libra will have to be built in such a way that the UI/UX will be very friendly to the older generation, as this is the social media now inhabited by people like my parents. If Facebook wants to get my mother on board, they are going to have to make the system as user-friendly as possible!
It will have to be easy to understand, easy to use and easy to get some support for when needed. This type of user-friendly design will force other crypto projects in the space to build things more simply in order to compete, encouraging adoption, potentially among adult industry businesses as well.
And because Facebook has mastered global communication, it may now be able to master this global crypto business. The site already has a network of several billion people that it will be able to feed into its payment system, which could lead to millions, maybe billions of potentially new customers or clients in adult! These users will be able to move money around the world in a more efficient and easy way. This coin will help to eliminate transaction fees and payment delays, and will allow more control of global financial sovereignty. It also helps to eliminate the need for banking in places that have a crumbling financial structure, bringing economic certainty and stability there.
However, I think this will force more intense government regulation, and as sex workers, we all know that is not necessarily a good thing. Lucky for Facebook, it is well-suited for this type of expensive legal task, but unfortunately, the decisions made will trickle down to those types of companies that cannot afford to take on the government. Given the privacy concerns with this type of crypto, that could be bad news.
Because Facebook already knows my legal name and phone number, it can tell that I watched a dog video for at least five seconds. It can tell you who my friends are, my location when I travel or what political videos I shared during the election. It can even eerily tell you that I searched for a body pillow one time on Amazon, and ended up buying a pregnancy pillow instead, so now my feed constantly has marketing material geared towards pregnant women.
So, Facebook is not the poster child for privacy measures, which makes it interesting to me that it claims to offer a payment system that was originally intended to solve privacy concerns. For everyone’s sake, let’s hope that the company's privacy and security teams get their shit together before this crypto launch.
Ultimately, Libra is designed to be used by the masses, and I think that is exactly what it will accomplish. Unfortunately, I don’t think Facebook is ever going to play well with the adult community. Facebook will continue to censor adult content, block sex workers from its sites and not allow us to use this type of currency for payments. Particularly with FOSTA/SESTA regulations, Facebook will be on the offensive for payments flowing through its system for adult services. There are other options in the space that were designed for safe and secure payments for sex work (like SpankPay!), but Libra is just not one of them.
Allie Eve Knox is a cam model, clip artist and “cryptocutie” who is the Model Community Manager for SpankChain.com. She can be followed on Twitter @allieeveknox, AllieEveKnox.com, GoddessAllie.com and PrettyWeirdGirls.com.
