I know that everyone may be burned out on Verge posts right now, but even if you don't like xvg, I believe that their announcement is a step forward for the encryption community. Even New Yorkers noticed it. Popular adoption is the goal. This is a step in the right direction.
The adult website Pornhub has recently been proud to be a pioneer. A year ago, it implemented HTTPS encryption, allowing users to click more secure without being snooped. Last fall it introduced a set of accessibility features for blind and visually impaired users. On Tuesday, it began accepting Verge, a privacy-centric cryptocurrency.
The first adult website to accept cryptocurrencies did not have any extensions. Dozens of companies have done so, like mainstream companies such as Microsoft, Overstock and Expedia. But the importance of this move is not in the combination of cryptocurrency and pornography, but in the universality of the legalization of cryptocurrency. After all, Pornhub is not just the biggest site of its kind. It is one of the largest websites on the web.
Of course, accepting Verge does have special value for Pornhub users. Not everyone wants their credit card bills to have mature content, even kana. Although Verge cryptocurrency is not an impeccable invisibility cloak, it contains more anonymous tools than traditional bids.
"This is an anonymous form of additional payment," said Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub. "Providing a privacy-centric payment method is what we are always looking for."
Pornhub’s move is also noteworthy because it chooses to use Verge, a relatively unknown cryptocurrency, rather than a cryptocurrency leader like Bitcoin and Ether. However, it does provide some privacy-focused attributes that may make it particularly appealing to the Pornhub customer base.
As for how Verge provides detailed information on anonymity, this is an open source project that uses Tor, which hides your IP address by encrypting traffic and rebounding through a global computer chain, and I2P, which differs in practice but provides The same extensive point-to-point routing. Using the so-called Wraith protocol, Verge users can conduct public or private blockchain transactions.
The last point is worth unpacking, because this is where real privacy commitments come into play. "Tor and I2P are great. The problem is if you use the public blockchain, you will leave completely traceable tracks," said Matthew Green, a cryptographer at Johns Hopkins University, who is also affiliated with another Privacy-centric cryptocurrency Zcash. "Even if you connect through Tor, when you finally cash these coins, people can track you."
By placing trades on so-called invisible addresses instead of on public chains, you can cover your tracks. But you also exposed some potential flaws.
"This may hide the payments on the blockchain. For example, you can donate to Wikipedia and don't publicly see donations to them on the blockchain," said Emin Gün Sirer, computer scientist at Cornell University. Focus on distributed systems. "But usually, what happens next is that the recipients organize the transaction. Whether it's organizing their wallets or making payments to others, the fact that you donate to Wikipedia will be made public. What's worse is that The sender cannot avoid this result. "
Green also pointed out that transactions on private blockchains require some degree of trust. "It works well," he said. "I don't think you know until something unfortunate happened."
Go legit:
Pornhub and several other major adult websites are owned by a Luxembourg-based company called MindGeek; its sister sites Brazzers and Nutaku will also accept Verge and receive more attention. But both they and their customers may want to do it themselves.
After all, other companies have been previously destroyed by the cryptocurrency. In January, Microsoft simply withdrew from Bitcoin, but it changed the situation a few days later. Payment start-up firm Stripe began accepting Bitcoin in 2015 and abandoned it only earlier this year on grounds of extreme fluctuations. Both of these initiatives are accompanied by huge increases and subsequent declines, a pattern that Bitcoin observers are familiar with. Last December, a bitcoin was worth nearly $20,000. Today, it is close to 8,000 US dollars.
Stripe Product Manager Tom Karlo wrote at the time: "Bitcoin has gradually become more suitable as an asset rather than an exchange. It adds a series of reasons for the decline in transaction volume: slow confirmation, high fees, and seemingly no results. The value of the roller coaster.
In the past week, Verge also experienced about 40% fluctuations. Earlier this month, a flaw in its code apparently allowed the attacker to mine up to 15 million coins worth about $780,000 in approximately three hours. The patch that the Verge team launched in response seems to have its own problems.
"Other privacy coins already support invisible addresses, and any cryptocurrency can run on Tor," Sirer said. "So, in general, Verge never provided unique features that were not provided elsewhere."
"There are inherent risks associated with it," Pornhub's price says. "Despite this, we are very pleased to take the next step to maintain the current community's payment preferences and provide them with this viable alternative."
If customers use Pornhub in the provided services, this may help the cryptocurrency to go mainstream. "Encrypted deals aren't a big deal right now," said Duke University economist Campbell Harvey, who studied blockchain technology and cited big-name retailers who accept Bitcoin.
However, the next step after providing a cryptocurrency payment system is to let people actually use cryptocurrency for payment. "Bitcoin has been accepted but no one uses it," said Johns Hopkins University's Green.
This is where Pornhub can have the greatest impact, not because of its content, but because of its size. According to Alexa's website ranking, it is the 32nd largest website on the Internet, second only to Netflix and Twitch. Its customers may be more willing than others to seek anonymity online. As long as they have a clear understanding of the potential pitfalls of Verge and other cryptocurrencies, they can help the new payment system find a place in the transaction, not just collect assets.
