The verification course of on grownup platforms could be extra cumbersome than Know Your Customer (KYC) checks on cryptocurrency exchanges — although added issue doesn’t essentially replicate stronger compliance.
Signing up as a mannequin on OnlyFans or Pornhub isn’t all that totally different from opening an account on a crypto buying and selling platform. The course of usually begins with a Google login (or different on-line accounts, relying on the change), adopted by the acquainted ritual of selfies and ID uploads.
Both grownup platforms and crypto exchanges are underneath mounting scrutiny over how they confirm customers — one to stop minors from promoting specific content material, the opposite to cease criminals from laundering cash.
To check how these techniques work in observe, Cointelegraph tried to cross id checks on each forms of platforms. The outcomes present that grownup websites usually frustrate creators with repeated rejections and arbitrary hurdles, whereas crypto exchanges impose extra structured checks tied to monetary regulation.
KYC in crypto vs. OnlyFans and Pornhub
On OnlyFans, verification went past a regular ID and selfie to incorporate an handle, a number of resubmissions and social media handles. The software was denied after the platform claimed the profile picture and selfie didn’t meet its requirements, although they adopted the said circumstances. OnlyFans later stated the supplied social media hyperlinks had been invalid although they had been respectable.
Cointelegraph refiled the main points, however the software was rejected once more. When approached for remark, OnlyFans’ media staff didn’t handle particular questions. Instead, they referred to the transparency heart, which states that the platform invests closely in know-how and moderation groups.
Cointelegraph’s software rejection is just not a singular case. OnlyFans creator profiles have a low acceptance fee. In July, the platform acquired 184,844 creator functions, of which solely 35% had been permitted.
Pornhub additionally rejected Cointelegraph’s software, citing solely “different” as the rationale. A second try utilizing a passport was later permitted, coincidentally after a media inquiry. Pornhub didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Joshua Chu, an asset restoration lawyer and co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, additionally independently carried out these checks. His OnlyFans creator software was equally rejected.
“I seemed into becoming a member of as a performer, solely to search out the verification course of considerably extra rigorous than anticipated,” Chu advised Cointelegraph. “I in the end didn’t succeed.”
“During the identical interval, I’ve opened and verified a number of crypto change accounts, together with ones not even formally purported to be working in Hong Kong, and buying and selling there proved much less difficult,” he added.
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Crypto exchanges Coinbase, Bybit and Bitget centered their checks on monetary documentation, supply of funds and proof of handle. Cointelegraph tried to cross KYC on every of those platforms to measure how their processes in contrast.
On Coinbase, registration started with a Google login and SMS verification, adopted by questions on employment and the anticipated supply of funds. The change required proof of handle by way of paperwork equivalent to a financial institution assertion or utility invoice. The check was carried out on Sept. 1, and a financial institution assertion with minimal transactions submitted by Cointelegraph was rejected a number of instances. The software was locked for twenty-four hours. Cointelegraph returned to the appliance after the time expired, and a July financial institution assertion was accepted and permitted. A small 6-euro deposit was made to Coinbase by way of its banking associate, Estonia-based LHV Pank, to check the on-ramp.
Bybit redirected European Union customers to its licensed subsidiary, the place verification was accomplished by way of normal ID checks. A video of a tilted passport needed to be taken to show its hologram. The course of was accomplished inside minutes.
Bitget supplied the quickest approval: A easy ID add and selfie unlocked crypto transfers in about 10 minutes. Additional verification was wanted to commerce crypto in opposition to fiat, requiring telephone and electronic mail codes and a linked financial institution card.
Coinbase and Bybit didn’t reply to Cointelegraph’s request to touch upon the story.
Bitget, when requested how the platform’s KYC verification happens nearly immediately, responded by saying it depends on its eKYC service suppliers and its overview staff.
“Adult content material platforms, then again, usually depend on extra conservative, generally handbook or third-party age checks — suppose uploaded scans, liveness checks or bank card checks,” Hon Ng, Bitget’s chief authorized officer, advised Cointelegraph.
“It’s not that grownup websites are deliberately extra rigorous; usually, it’s that the necessities themselves are murkier,” Ng stated.
“For crypto exchanges, KYC is a well-charted, globally acquainted course of; for age verification in grownup content material, the foundations are newer, interpreted otherwise throughout jurisdictions and tangled in privateness debates.”
How OnlyFans and crypto ended up with stricter verifications
Identity checks weren’t all the time strict in both grownup platforms or cryptocurrency exchanges. Both industries tightened their processes solely after scandals and regulatory strain made the established order unsustainable.
Pornhub was compelled to overtake its system in 2020 after a New York Times opinion article revealed underage and non-consensual movies on the location. Visa and Mastercard shortly suspended cost providers, whereas the platform deleted thousands and thousands of unverified uploads and required all content material creators to cross authorities ID verification.
OnlyFans confronted related scrutiny in 2021 because the platform exploded in reputation through the pandemic. A BBC News investigation discovered that minors had been promoting and showing in specific movies on the platform. The BBC discovered circumstances of minors utilizing faux IDs and social media profiles of family members to bypass the platform’s restrictions.
In March 2025, UK communications watchdog Ofcom fined OnlyFans’ dad or mum firm, Fenix International, 1.05 million British kilos (about $1.4 million) for offering inaccurate details about its age-verification system. The regulator stated it had twice requested particulars in 2022 and 2023 in regards to the platform’s “facial age estimation” software, which was supposed to dam minors.
Crypto exchanges adopted a parallel however separate path. For years, platforms equivalent to BitMEX and Binance allowed customers to commerce with little or no verification, drawing the ire of monetary regulators.
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BitMEX first settled with US regulators in 2021, agreeing to pay $100 million resulting from Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and registration failures. In 2024, the change pleaded responsible to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, and in January 2025, a federal choose imposed one other $100-million felony fantastic together with probation. KuCoin was a newer instance, pleading responsible in 2025 to working as an unlicensed cash transmitter and agreeing to pay practically $300 million in penalties for non-compulsory and inconsistent KYC.
OnlyFans, Pornhub and crypto discovered the arduous means
In each industries, id checks solely grew to become stricter after a scandal and enforcement made inaction not possible.
Pornhub and OnlyFans toughened their requirements after revelations of underage customers and baby safety failures. Crypto exchanges did so solely after regulators imposed heavy fines and felony expenses for weak AML safeguards.
From 2021, the Financial Action Task Force up to date its world steering to apply AML requirements to crypto, which means exchanges needed to undertake KYC guidelines just like banks.
“KYC is essential for figuring out and pursuing dangerous actors; it’s actually the muse of efficient asset restoration work. However, in observe, I’ve noticed that some exchanges have gaps of their KYC information or fail to correctly confirm key paperwork like handle proofs,” Chu stated.
“With the rise of AI-generated fakes, these weaknesses have develop into extra pronounced. Although there are enhancements, crypto KYC requirements nonetheless lag behind conventional finance in integrity and thoroughness.”
Today, onboarding as a creator on an grownup website can contain extra hoops than opening an account on a crypto change, however that doesn’t imply their techniques are safer or correct. OnlyFans has not expanded on why Cointelegraph’s software was rejected regardless of the submission of correct documentation and social profiles.
Both sectors in the end share the identical trajectory: Systems tightened solely after crises uncovered their weaknesses, and in the present day’s stricter checks are the product of these classes discovered the arduous means.
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