Sex Workers Are Using Crypto to Save for Retirement

MelissaSweet1, a camgirl in Arizona, started accepting cryptocurrency as payment for her erotic webcam performances three years ago. But usually, she would promptly convert it into fiat.

Until last year that is, when she started squirreling away the digital coins in a hardware wallet. Rather than simply an expedient way to get paid, crypto became a part of her retirement plan.

Like MelissaSweet1, several other sex workers recently interviewed by CoinDesk described similar shifts in their crypto usage. While others in the blockchain industry debate whether bitcoin is primarily a transactional currency or a global store of value, sex workers are already using the technology for both.

The trend speaks to both the surge in cryptocurrency prices, which has made it more rewarding to hold on to coins rather than cash out, and an intensification of the very problem that led the sex industry to turn to blockchain technology in the first place.

Namely, it's even harder than it was just six months ago for people in this line of work to get any kind of mainstream financial services in the U.S. – not just the payment processing that's long been elusive for them.

"More banks are viewing any sex work as high risk, and an increasing number of banks are refusing to accept direct deposits from adult industry companies," said MelissaSweet1, who like other sex workers did not want to give her real name.

In such an environment, sex workers – a broad category that includes not only escorts but lawful workers such as erotic dancers, porn stars and even film production professionals – see saving money the old-fashioned way as increasingly risky because their accounts can be closed and funds frozen without warning. Some are afraid that centralized crypto services will start to do the same.

So, in addition to hodling the crypto they receive from clients, they're also moving their digital money offline from third-party services to cold storage methods under their control.

Adult performer and token enthusiast Brenna Sparks alluded to the new state of affairs in a tweet last month. Recounting a conversation with a makeup artist on set,