LAS VEGAS—Porn stars twerked in a blow-up kiddie pool filled with plastic balls, a flogging demonstration attracted a crowd, and fans hovered around Angela White, Lisa Ann, Gabbie Carter and other adult luminaries like paparazzi, snapping pictures and waiting for autographs from their favorite stars.
Indeed, it was a gloriously chaotic scene at AVN’s Adult Entertainment Expo at Resorts World on January 5. And smack dab in the middle of it all?
“Nerds,” Drew Raines chuckled as he described himself and his team of IT wizards to AVN. “Just some computer geeks who built some really cool tech.”
Raines is the mastermind behind bitStars.app, a new content creator venture he believes could be revolutionary. Raines launched bitStars during AVN week and marketed the app at his booth at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at Resorts World Las Vegas.
In what’s believed to be the first of its kind, bitStars.app is on blockchain. Tied to cryptocurrency, blockchain has been described as “a distributed database or ledger that is shared among the nodes of a computer network. As a database, a blockchain stores information electronically in digital format. Blockchains are best known for their crucial role in cryptocurrency systems, such as Bitcoin, for maintaining a secure and decentralized record of transactions.
“The innovation with a blockchain is that it guarantees the fidelity and security of a record of data and generates trust without the need for a trusted third party.”
In layman’s terms, that means adult performers can post their content on bitStars.app without the fear of it ever being deleted, whether it be because of a technical malfunction, censorship or shuttering of a site.
“We’re trying to solve the problems that other platforms have,” Raines says. “With bitStars.app, you own everything you do. It’s your content and your wallet and no one can interfere with it.”
Raines also says that bitStars will only keep 10 percent of the earnings from a creator’s content, where as most other platforms take 20 percent. And no waiting around for the money to transfer to your bank account. With bitStars.app, Raines says, the payouts are “instantaneous.”
“And it’s tax free,” he says. “We also do royalties for the NFTs. If we want to, we can post their content. As it’s sold and resold, they get royalties for the maturity of that interest.”
Another pesky issue for performers on other platforms has been censorship. Many creators have horror stories about Instagram accounts being deleted for harmless photos, or about standard scenes being wiped from clip sites.
“On the blockchain, what are you going to do?” Raines says. “Call up computers from all over the country and have them individually delete your account? Performers won’t have to worry about being censored.”
Raines pauses.
“Unless, of course, there are inappropriate—or illegal—things being posted. We have protections for that kind of stuff.”
Raines realizes his new platform could be intimidating for new users, especially ones who aren’t familiar with blockchain and cryptocurrency. During AVN week he filmed YouTube tutorials that provide a step-by-step explanation on how to use bitStars.app; he also give demonstrations to visitors at his booth.
“Blockchain has been around,” Raines says, “but it’s still going to take a few years until people realize, ‘I don’t have to pay taxes, I don’t have to worry about waking up and all my content is gone, I can get paid daily. I can get paid instantly. The NFTs are permeable. It’s immutable. It’s never going away. Once people realize those advantages, they say, ‘OK, I’m going to spend 10 minutes and figure this out.’
“We’re in this day and age where you can get on a computer and do anything you want. You don’t have to have a bunch of degrees or have a boss. Look at Uber. Look at Airbnb. You can do your own thing if you have the resources. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to allow creators to run the show.”
