Bitcoin was originally created to free people’s money from the control and censorship of regulators, banks and governments. Companies in the ecosystem are supposed to be infused with this ethos, but as they strive to become more mainstream some, like Bitpay apparently, adopt the more prevailing standards in the business world.
Also Read: Nasdaq-Listed “Blockchain” Companies Hit With New Legal Troubles
Terms and Conditions
Bitpay, the digital asset service provider based in Atlanta, Georgia, updated its Terms of Use agreement on February 2. The binding contract states that the use of the company’s services is subject to several important restrictions, including the sale of explicit sexual content.
Additional “prohibited activities” include the sales of narcotics, research chemicals or any controlled substances; cash or cash equivalents, and virtual currencies; items that infringe or violate any intellectual property rights; ammunition, firearms, explosives (including fireworks) or weapons; transactions that show the personal information of third parties; transactions that support pyramid, Ponzi, or other “get rich quick” schemes; transactions that are related to cloud-mining; credit repair or debt settlement services; any services which compete with Bitpay; and the sales of Kratom or Nootropics.
The company’s Terms also list “restricted activities,” which are subject to internal review and only allowed when expressly authorized by Bitpay. These include Forex, Money Service Business activities or E-wallets; selling bitcoin mining hardware; Currency exchange services; and transaction that are associated with purchases of lottery tickets, lay-away systems, banking, offshore banking, finance, investing, investment related products or gambling.
Two Months’ Notice
Following the recent update, Bitpay is apparently searching for websites that don’t follow the Terms and terminating the relationship with them. At least one porn creator has reported in community forums that the company has given her two months to find an alternative and leave.
Saffron has uploaded a screenshot of a message from Bitpay that reads: “Due to a recent update in our Terms of Use, we will soon no longer be processing payments for merchants which provide sexually explicit content. We understand that switching payments processors can be a costly change for any business. You will have two months to find an alternative payments provider before your Bitpay accounts is disabled. Your account will be disabled on April 25,2018.”
How should online merchants of sexually explicit content react to this news? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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