The Founder and CEO of OnlyFans, Tim Stokely, explained how banks had forced it to drop adult content from the subscription-based content platform.

OnlyFans is a popular platform connecting content creators, mainly online sex workers to subscribers. The company recently made headlines when it changed its policy to prohibit “sexually explicit conduct,” starting Oct. 1. This caused a backlash from both creators and content connoisseurs alike.

The company’s CEO Spoke about the change of policy with the Financial Times noting that “we had no choice — the short answer is banks,” as he listed three banking giants who refused to provide services to OnlyFans: Bank of New York Mellon, Metro Bank and JPMorgan Chase.

Stokely explained that the banks pulled services from OnlyFans over the “reputational risk” of being associated with a platform that hosts sexually explicit content. The founder cited JPMorgan in particular, stating that it is “aggressive in closing accounts of sex workers” or any business that “supports sex workers.”

According to the CEO the banks “flagged and rejected” every wire transfer connected with the company, which was “making it difficult” to pay creators on the platform.

Stokely elaborated:

“We pay over one million creators over $300 million every month, and making sure that these funds get to creators involves using the banking sector.”

One of the largest porn websites, Pornhub faced similar issues in the past, with Paypal pulling back from the platform in late 2019. In December of the following year, Visa and Mastercard also stopped servicing Pornhub, citing issues regarding videos that allegedly depicted illicit material.

Pornhub found answer to the problem in cryptocurrencies as payments including Verge (XVG), which it had partnered with back in 2018.

Stokely didn’t directly say, if OnlyFans would take the crypto path like Pornhub, but did note that he would “absolutely” allow pornographic content on the platform if banks changed their mind, which would point to the direction that they will stick to the banks for now.

OnlyFans adult content ban has opened the door for competing platforms to fill the void. Onlycoins believes the ban is “crypto’s biggest opportunity” and the project is ready to take the stage.

American rapper Tyga announced his plans to release a platform called ‘Myystar‘ that will be a direct competitor to OnlyFans. The platform will be built on the Ethereum network.

Source: OnlyFans CEO: Banks Forced The Platform To Get Rid Of Adult Content – Fintechs.fi