SpankChain, a blockchain startup known for advocating financial and sexual freedom in the adult industry, has announced the suspension of two of its flagship services: SpankPay and SpankMatch.

Founded in 2017, SpankChain has long operated at the intersection of cryptocurrency and adult entertainment—two industries frequently subjected to financial exclusion and regulatory scrutiny. On Monday, the company formally declared that continued development of its adult crypto payment processor, SpankPay, and its networking platform, SpankMatch, is no longer feasible under current conditions.

“This time around, the challenges and uncertainties have made it impossible to derisk and protect our platform,” the company stated. “We couldn’t bear the thought of hardworking adult creators getting rugged yet again.”

The decision comes after years of mounting pressure on the financial infrastructure that supports adult and crypto businesses. In 2022, SpankPay was de-platformed by CoinPayments and forced to migrate to Wyre. That lifeline, too, was cut short in 2023 when Wyre’s new ownership chose to end support for adult content clients, citing “reputational risk.”

SpankChain emphasized that all user funds and records remain secure and will be handled with care. The company said it is redirecting its focus to advocacy, education, and support for broader industry initiatives.

Despite shutting down core operations, SpankChain remains committed to political and legal advocacy. Over the past three years, the company has held regular meetings on Capitol Hill, collaborating with the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) to push back against regulatory overreach. This includes opposition to state-level age-verification mandates introduced in 2023, which the company and FSC challenged through over 30 legal briefs and multiple federal lawsuits.

A significant flashpoint in these legal battles was Texas’s H.R. 1181, a law mandating strict age verification for adult websites. Though a federal injunction temporarily blocked the law, it was later overturned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case has since reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments in January 2025.

SpankChain also contributed to public health efforts through its partnership with PASS (Performer Availability Screening Services), developing new STI screening protocols for Mycoplasma Genitalium (MGEN), an antibiotic-resistant infection largely overlooked by standard testing.

Looking ahead, SpankChain is pinning its hopes on legislative reform. The company is backing the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. The act aims to prohibit federal regulators from denying financial services based on so-called “reputational risk,” a criterion that has often been used to deny banking services to adult and crypto businesses.

The FIRM Act is widely viewed as a direct response to “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” an informal initiative alleged to have targeted politically or socially controversial industries through bank de-risking.

“While we are being somewhat forced to pivot, we’re staying our course,” SpankChain stated. “We still have hope that America can be the land of the free and home of the brave, where perceived risks cannot be used to discriminate against marginalized communities.”

SpankChain framed the closure of SpankPay and SpankMatch as a temporary retreat rather than a permanent shutdown. The company signaled its intention to resume product development if and when the regulatory landscape becomes more favorable.

“It’s not goodbye, but it is so long,” the announcement concluded.

In a sector repeatedly shut out by traditional financial systems and now increasingly squeezed by crypto regulations, SpankChain’s pivot to advocacy marks a strategic shift—and perhaps a new chapter—in the ongoing struggle for financial and sexual autonomy.

Follow SpankChain on X at @spankchain.