Playboy The Latest To Enter Cryptocurrency

Adult media group, Playboy, is the latest company to throw its hat into the cryptocurrency ring, announcing that it will launch the Vice Industry Token, as well as a wallet that will accept VIT as well as other cryptcurrencies. 

Although the move may have its critics, it makes sense for the company, which operates a lot of its media from behind a paywall, to introduce this kind of scheme, and with a major name like Playboy behind the crypto, it has a chance to become the de facto payment for adult entertainment. 

Users will be able to buy and earn VIT, and the company has said that it will first be available for use to pay for Playboy.TV before being rolled out to incorporate their other pay channels, unique premium content, and their casual gaming assets. 

100 Million Potential Investors

The company's chief commercial officer, Reena Patel, said that they wanted to offer their “100 million monthly consumers increased payment flexibility.” 

The company finished its token sale yesterday, 20th March, and sold just over 472 million VIT, raising nearly 26000 ETH, roughly equivalent to over $14m. While adult content might be considered a niche area, it is one that has huge potential, and Playboy's 100 million customers is testament to this. Add in the need for anonymity that a lot of consumers have, and a secure, anonymous cryptocurrency could work well. 

Playboy plans to reward its VIT users, too, as if extra incentive were needed, and the media group is already behind some pretty innovative VR and AR content. 

Potential For A Better Name?

Playboy will have to take on a number of competitors in the adult blockchain space, including the imaginatively titled SpankChain, TittieCoin, TitCoin, and FapCoin among others. But if anybody can do it...

Others Joining The Crypto Game

While the move sounds unique, though, Playboy is not the first recognised company or group to add cryptocurrency or blockchain to their existing offering. 

KodakOne is an image rights management platform that uses blockchain to protect the copyright of photographs and other digital documents. Its own ICO is due to end at the end of March, and they have so far raised $2m, which is still only a fraction of the figure that Playboy has raised. 

The Unbelievably Controversial Petro Coin

Neither group, however, comes even remotely close to the $745m that Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro claims Petro has raised. Petro is the first oil based and first state owned cryptocurrency to launch, but it has done so under huge criticism. Maduro and his regime have come under fire for the hyperinflation that has caused their fiat currency, the Bolivar, to become near worthless. 

Trump Declares It Illegal To Trade Petro

What's more, Trump has made it illegal for US citizens to buy the coin, and Maduro himself has said that he launched the coin as a means to beat “Superman” himself, referring to the sanctions that have been pitted against the Venezuelan government by the US. 

Starting On Shaky Ground

There has been no proof provided that the ICO raised the stated amount, and critics have raised several key points about the coin. Namely, they are concerned that the coin is not truly backed by barrels of oil and that Maduro has too much control over the currency for it be a stable cryptocurrency solution.