Thirst traps have reached the NFT world and can make adult content creators a pretty penny!
2021 has been a great year for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), with sales volumes growing eightfold and reaching US$10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021. The rising popularity of NFTs has encouraged a large number of people, from memers to musicians and even adult entertainers, to join in on the trend!
Let’s take a look at some X-rated NFTs, to find out how the adult entertainment industry has been using the blockchain to find a new market for its content, and why this might be a good choice for adult content creators.
Azealia Banks’s audio sex tape- sold for US$17,240
In March 2021, American rapper Azealia Banks sold a 24-minute album titled “I FUCKED RYDER RIPPS” as an NFT. The album features an audio recording of the rapper and her boyfriend Ryder Ripps having sex. This was the first-ever sex-tape NFT.
The NFT was minted on March 6, and, within 9 hours of being listed on the marketplace “Foundation”, the NFT was bought by an artist who goes by the name Rulton Fyder for 10 ETH or US$17,240. The purchase gives Fyder full ownership of the album, distribution rights and the only signed record of the album.
Clea Gaultier’s private video- sold for US$10,000
French adult-content actress Clea Gaultier’s private video went for 2.5 ETH (around US$10,000 at the time of sale) on the NFT marketplace Rare Porn (now Pokmi) in April 2021. The NFT was also sold with a piece of authentic underwear from the actress.
The winner of the auction, who goes by the name Badoo, had decided to keep the NFT in a vault (an Ethereum address used for long-term storage of an NFT) on the platform itself to maintain its value.
Cryptonatrix’s “Making Vlad My Bitch”- Sold for US$1722
A dominatrix who goes by the name Cryptonatrix sold the NFT “Making Vlad My Bitch” on Rarible for 1 ETH (or US$1,722). The NFT was minted and sold in February this year.
The NFT features the CEO of financial services company Robinhood, Vladimir Tenev. The CEO is shown on his knees with his hands clasped in prayer and a leash around his neck. The NFT was a response to Robinhood blocking the sale of meme stocks on their platform to slow down the market.
So why are adult content creators selling NFTs?
The adult film industry has been growing year after year, reaching the US$100 billion mark as of 2020. Even though five billion hours of porn is watched every year, the featured actors don’t reap the benefits of such a high viewership count. The former adult film actress Mia Khalifa has famously come out and said that she has only made around US$12,000 from the 12 films she made, even though the said films have gone on to make millions.
The NFT space solves this problem by closely connecting the content creators (the actors and actresses) and their fans. In the case of sex workers or erotic artists, using NFT platforms and cryptocurrency as payment removes middlemen (like PayPal or Venmo) from the transaction. Some of these legacy platforms might block their accounts for selling what they deem as “inappropriate content”, and thus removing the middlemen from the transaction might benefit the creators. NFTs are democratizing the adult content industry and how creators can sell their content. The X-rated NFT space will only become bigger as more creators hop on the bandwagon.
Header image courtesy of Unsplash
