Farewell SpankPay and SpankMatch (for now)
It is no secret that, since its inception in 2017, SpankChain has battled regulatory headwinds since it began its activity in the crypto and adult industries. The company is no stranger to the often prejudicial bureaucracy that plagues both sectors. We’ve been kicked out of banks, and many individuals and companies have refused to do business with us. On the crypto front, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 and the SEC rampage wreaked havoc on DeFi. And the powers that be have never been particularly kind or even fair to sex workers, which includes adult content creators.
And we are not the only ones facing this very discriminatory climate; furthermore, it’s not just adult or adult-adjacent companies bearing the brunt of this wave of unfavorable circumstances. Many companies in the crypto space have been de-banked or faced some kind of punitive measure. As the kids would say, the “vibes are off,” and while we are being somewhat forced to pivot, we’re staying our course.
Putting the “active” in activism
When it comes to fighting for what we believe in, SpankChain has always walked the walk. We’ve spent the last three years on Capitol Hill, fighting for financial and sexual liberty holding weekly meetings, and those efforts have proved productive. We’ve worked closely alongside the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) to successfully push bills to Congress and influence critical court cases, and fight against state and local legislators.
For readers who are unfamiliar with the FSC, this organization plays an integral role in representing the adult industry in the banking and financial sectors. Financial discrimination is a wealth-hoarding dragon that steals from those unable to stand up to its immense power on their own, and the FSC has been a white knight defending and empowering those plagued by that dragon, turning regular people into activists who can really fight back.
In 2023, the majority of states introduced age-verification mandates for adult content, and SpankChain and the FSC actively opposed these measures, leading efforts that resulted in contacting over 1,000 legislators, filing 31 briefs contesting the proposed laws, and filing 7 federal court cases that challenged overreaching age-verification laws at the state level. Among the more notable laws was H.R. 1181 in Texas, but thanks to our efforts, an injunction was granted against it. Unfortunately, the injunction was overturned later that year by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the matter was further escalated to the United States Supreme Court, which held hearings on the matter in January of this year.
In addition to the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve shed on Capitol Hill, we also partnered with PASS to increase STI screening awareness and effectiveness, pioneering testing practices and treatment guidelines for Mycoplasma Genitalium, an antibiotic-resistant STI known as MGEN that had been flying under most testing facilities’ radars.
Farewell SpankPay and SpankMatch (for now)
It’s not goodbye, but it is so long.
Our products have made big waves and garnered incredible momentum, but the current climate has proved insurmountable to their continued development. Unfortunately, various regulators have grown particularly adversarial and even openly hostile. In recent months, the regulatory and logistical burden has figured into the millions of dollars. SpankPay had already fought against its de-platforming in 2022, when it was forced to migrate from CoinPayments to Wyre, then, again in 2023, when Wyre was no longer able to support adult businesses. This time around, the challenges and uncertainties have made it impossible to derisk and protect our platform, and we couldn’t bear the thought of hard working adult creators getting rugged yet again.
Due to these headwinds, SpankChain has made the heartbreaking decision to pause SpankPay, its adult crypto payment platform, and SpankMatch, its adult networking platform. Rest assured, all user money and records are safe and will be handled with the highest diligence as SpankChain focuses all of its efforts on helping create a world where such products can thrive. SpankChain will continue to educate and advocate to regulatory bodies, focusing on advocacy and education while continuing to support promising crypto and adult initiatives.
Standing FIRM: All in on Advocacy, Activism, and Education
Battered but not broken, SpankChain is looking to create a better tomorrow. In the last month, the company has helped the FSC advocate for two debanking bills that have made it to the voting dock.
The FIRM (Financial Integrity and Regulation Management) Act is sponsored by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who just so happens to be the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, making him quite a formidable advocate for us to rally behind.
The FIRM Act is essentially a counter-offensive to Operation Chokepoint 2.0, which hindered the livelihoods of those in the crypto and adult industries via arbitrary enforcement of intentionally vague and overreaching regulations. In 2023, SpankPay lost its banking and crypto services provider because the new owners of Wyre deemed the adult industry to be a “reputational risk.” Well, it so happens that the FIRM Act includes a legal mandate for federal banking institutions to remove “reputational risk” from the criteria of their supervisory frameworks. We still have hope that America can be the land of the free and home of the brave, where perceived risks cannot be to discriminate against marginalized communities.
Is this a big deal? Yes, but we take comfort in the fact that we are not alone in our fight to get things back on track. The current climate has been choppy at best, but there is always darkness before dawn. Instead of throwing up our hands or waving white flags, we’re investing our energy and resources into the areas where change is possible, and will continue our mission to support the adult and crypto communities.
We hope that you’ll join us in the fight for a better tomorrow.
