Video summary
Pornhub has officially integrated cryptocurrency payments, specifically adding Monero alongside other digital assets, marking a significant shift in how major adult entertainment platforms handle transactions. This move comes after the company faced restrictions from traditional credit card networks like Mastercard and Visa, which blocked their services by labeling such businesses as unethical or unlawful. By bypassing these centralized payment gateways that can arbitrarily cut off access to funds, Pornhub has adopted crypto as a necessary alternative to maintain its operations in an increasingly restrictive financial landscape where large corporations hold immense power over who gets paid and how they get paid.
The speaker contextualizes this development by highlighting historical precedents where businesses were forced to turn to cryptocurrency due to pressure from traditional payment processors. A primary example cited is WikiLeaks, which was de-platformed by Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal in 2011 but survived only after accepting Bitcoin donations, proving that crypto can be a lifeline for organizations facing censorship or ideological opposition. The transcript also references the freezing of bank accounts during protests in Hong Kong as another instance where individuals and groups were compelled to use decentralized currencies when state-backed financial systems turned against them, illustrating a global trend where privacy coins like Monero offer essential protection against surveillance and arbitrary bans by centralized entities.
Beyond specific examples, the video discusses the broader implications of digital currency adoption for individual freedom and economic sovereignty. The speaker argues that controlling money equates to controlling free speech, as state-backed or corporate-controlled currencies allow authorities to track every transaction, automatically deduct taxes, and blacklist individuals who do not align with political agendas. This level of surveillance threatens fundamental liberties by dictating how people can conduct commerce and express themselves online, whereas cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and privacy-focused coins preserve the ability for users to transact without fear of being monitored or punished simply for their choices or associations.
Looking toward the future, the transcript suggests that this trend is accelerating with governments worldwide exploring their own digital currencies, such as China's pilot program in certain regions and Canada's past attempts at a national currency. The speaker notes that while these state-backed initiatives often lack true market fit compared to decentralized networks, they represent an inevitable evolution of financial infrastructure driven by global events like the pandemic. Ultimately, Pornhub's adoption of Monero is seen not just as a business decision but as a catalyst for other industries to realize the importance of privacy and decentralization, potentially sparking a wider movement where businesses embrace crypto to safeguard their independence from restrictive payment channels and authoritarian oversight.
Read the full video transcript
and here we are pornhub finally goes
full crypto
now they added monero among other
different cryptocurrencies
i don't want to say this is a surprise
it's not because this has happened
before
pornhub has had a very sticky situation
i'm going to do a stand-up comedian no
but
in all seriousness um we live in a time
where
credit card companies can
make or break your business like this
and so this is one example right now
where
pornhub has been gated by mastercard and
credit card
that they call it unlawful or they don't
they don't moral business they don't
like and so
we're going to cut you off and people
understand like how big pornhub is like
think about it it's [ __ ]
porn like they revolutionize porn with
streaming and putting everything under
one roof and really bring technology
uh involved or i would say technifying
the porn industry
but according to similar web pornhub is
a fifth largest traffic source
from the us with 23.76 percentage which
followed by japan
germany france and the uk
now why is this important well when
bitcoin came out
roughly what 11 12 years ago at 2008
crisis
the original promise was p2p exchange
person to person
with nobody standing in the middle
encrypted one-to-one
and for the most part you can still do
that depending on how much it costs to
send a transaction and lightning or
lightning network is happening except
there's many other different
cryptocurrency for privacy on monero and
zcash and other ones
but that was the original promise
self-sovereign
detached from the state you know first
was religion now it's money
and this isn't the first time that we
see businesses big businesses or i would
say organizations
to be affected by payment channels
i don't know if you guys remember this
but uh wikileaks
would not be here today if it wasn't for
bitcoin so in 2011
so this is 9 10 11 3 years after bitcoin
came out from the oa crisis
wikileak wikileaks started getting
guarded by mastercard
paypal and visa that people can't donate
to that not-for-profit charity
and so in 2011 wikileaks said hey we're
gonna start accepting bitcoin
and if it wasn't for bitcoin being
around at that time we wouldn't see
wikileaks today so this isn't something
new guys
this is real and it's happening around
the world
another recent example was in hong kong
when the hong kong
government froze the bank accounts of
the protesters against the chinese
communist party
and they started using crypto this is a
recurring theme around the world
if visa mastercard paypal they own the
payment channels
and if you don't fit into their agenda
and if you don't play by ball
and if they don't like what you're doing
it's very easy for them to go
oh they snip the line and goodbye
money goodbye revenue goodbye everything
and so you know we have now the option
like saying well [ __ ] you
i'm gonna use crypto instead i'm gonna
use privacy coins like monero like
z cash so these are things that you
should think about depending on which
industry you're in
which type of business you are or as an
individual you know
as of late and go back to this
so leave it here but as of late and
china i
mentioned this two three years ago i was
talking about this
china already launched in a small
section in china
they're a women b that's digitized
and so this is gonna happen like get
used to it
your dollar the us dollar the canadian
dollar in fact another side tangent
canada i remember the team i actually
knew the [ __ ] team working on this
canada
was trying to do a canadian digital
currency
three four years ago um
so this is nothing new governments have
been trying to do this and i think that
like anything like product market fit
even with the state involved
matters with people and so it took uh it
took a a
it took a pandemic and it took you know
all these different geo global events to
happen and bitcoin to really
stamp down its store value and and
digital
gold narrative to realize oh [ __ ] you
know these
these stable coins and these
state-backed
currencies are the ultimate surveillance
tools and individuals
because what's going to happen in the
future is every single time you get paid
automatically to take taxes from that
they track every payment that you make
and you know that's not that's the okay
part
the nefarious part is hey i don't like
that you donated to this organization
blacklisted hey you shouldn't be doing
business with that business because they
don't fall into parties line
blacklisted you know when you control
money
you control freedom of speech when you
control freedom of speech you can show
how people think and behave
and if you have a dollar in your wallet
digital wallet
and you're only allowed to do xyz this
destroys the very notion of free
commerce this destroys freedom of speech
this destroys
how human beings uh act and behave on a
daily basis
and thank god for bitcoin in 2008 for
sparking everything and thank god for
people pushing privacy like zcash and
monero and even bitcoin
with the schnorr signatures whenever
that launches that's gonna be uh
really [ __ ] cool so there's more
focus now i would say
the theme elise on layer 1 2021 is
privacy ethereum even it has uh
zk snarks they have you know z cash roll
ups on ethereum so you can have a
feature
uh for privacy as well and so keep an
eye on this guys
this is a big big deal i think this
becomes the
catalyst pornhub going native with
monero and other coins i think this
becomes a catalyst
for other businesses online to realize
well hey
if the fifth largest [ __ ] website is
doing this
why aren't we doing this
and i'll leave you at that