The process of verification on adult platforms may be heavier than knowing that your customer (KYC) verifies cryptocurrency exchanges-although the additional difficulty does not necessarily reflect stronger compliance.
Registration as a model on Onlyfans or Pornhub is not so different from the opening of an account on a crypto trading platform. The process often starts with a Google connection (or other online accounts, depending on the exchange), followed by the familiar ritual of selfies and identification downloads.
Adult platforms and crypto exchanges are under assembly control over how they check users – one to prevent minors from selling explicit content, the other to prevent criminals from whitening money.
To test the functioning of these systems in practice, Cointtelegraph tried to pass identity checks on the two types of platforms. The results show that adult sites often frustrate creators with repeated refusals and arbitrary obstacles, while crypto exchanges impose more structured verifications linked to financial regulations.
KYC EN CRYPTO VS Unique
On Onlyfans, the verification went beyond a standard ID and a selfie to include an address, several re-edition and handful of social media. The request was refused after the platform said that the profile and selfie image did not meet its standards, even if they followed the declared conditions. Only Fans later declared that the links on the social networks provided were not valid even if they were legitimate.
Cointelegraph has turned the details, but the request was rejected again. When approached for comments, the media team of only did not answer specific questions. Instead, they have referred to the transparency center, which indicates that the platform invests massively in technological and moderation teams.
The rejection of the application of Cintelelegraph is not a unique case. Creative profiles only have a low acceptance rate. In July, the platform received 184,844 requests from creators, only 35% of which were approved.
Pornhub also rejected the Cointelegraph application, citing only “other” as reason. A second attempt using a passport was then approved, by coincidence after a media investigation. Pornhub did not respond to a request for comments.
Joshua Chu, lawyer and co -president of the takeover of assets and co -chair of Hong Kong Web3 Association, also carried out these tests independently. Its unique creator application has been rejected in the same way.
“I planned to join an artist, only to find the process of verification much more rigorous than expected,” said CHU at Cointelegraph. “I did not succeed.”
“During the same period, I opened and verified several Crypto exchange accounts, including those who are not even officially supposed to operate in Hong Kong, and trade has proven less difficult,” he added.
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The exchanges of Crypto Coinbase, Bybit and Bitget concentrated their checks on the financial documentation, the source of funds and the proof of address. Cointelegraph tried to pass KYC on each of these platforms to measure how their processes compare.
On Coinbase, the registration started with a Google connection and SMS verification, followed by questions about employment and the planned funds. The exchange required proof of address through documents such as a bank statement or a public service bill. The test was carried out on September 1 and a bank statement with a minimum of transactions submitted by Cintelelegraph was rejected several times. The application was locked for 24 hours. Cointelegraph returned to the request after the expiration of time, and a bank statement in July was accepted and approved. A small 6-euro deposit was made in Coinbase via its banking partner, the Basonie de Pank LHV based in Estonia, to test the ramp.
Parbit has redirected users of the European Union to its approved subsidiary, where verification was completed through standard identification checks. A video of an inclined passport had to be taken to display its hologram. The process was completed in a few minutes.
Bitget offered the fastest approval: a simple identity download and crypto transfers unlocked selfies in about 10 minutes. Additional verification was necessary to exchange the crypto for Fiat, requiring phone and messaging codes and a linked bank card.
Coinbase and Bybit did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request to comment on history.
Bitget, when asked how the KYC verification of the platform occurs almost instantly, replied by saying that it was based on its Ekyc service providers and its examination team.
“Content platforms for adults, on the other hand, often count on more conservative, sometimes manual or third -party age checks – reflect downloaded analyzes, liveliness tests or credit card checks,” said the Honorable, in chief of Bitget, the legal director of Bitget, Cointelegraph.
“It is not that adult sites are intentionally more rigorous; often, it is that the requirements themselves are more troubled,” said NG.
“For crypto exchanges, KYC is a well -designed and worldwide process; For age verification in the content of adults, the rules are more recent, interpreted differently between the courts and tangled in the confidentiality debates. ”
How only fans and crypto ended up with stricter checks
Identity checks were not always strict in adult platforms or cryptocurrency exchanges. The two industries only tightened their processes after scandals and regulatory pressure made the status quo unsustainable.
Pornhub was forced to revise his system in 2020 after an opinion article from the New York Times revealed minor and non -consensual videos on the site. Visa and Mastercard quickly suspended the payment services, while the platform deleted millions of unaccompanied downloads and asked all content creators to pass the verification of the identification government.
Only fans was faced with a similar examination in 2021 while the platform exploded in popularity during the pandemic. A BBC News survey revealed that minors sold and appeared in explicit videos on the platform. The BBC has found cases of minors using false IDs and parents’ social media profiles to get around the restrictions of the platform.
In March 2025, the British communications guard dog ofcom inflicted a fine on the parent company of Fenix International, 1.05 million British pounds (approximately 1.4 million dollars) for providing inaccurate information on its age check system. The regulator said he had twice asked details in 2022 and 2023 on the “facial age” tool “of the platform, which was to block minors.
Crypto’s exchanges followed a parallel but separate path. For years, platforms such as Bitmex and Binance have enabled users to trade with little or no verification, attracting the anger of financial regulators.
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Bitmex was contented with American regulators in 2021 for the first time, agreeing to pay $ 100 million due to the anti-money laundering failure (AML) and registration failures. In 2024, the scholarship pleaded guilty of having violated the law on the secrecy of the bank and, in January 2025, a federal judge imposed a criminal fine of $ 100 million with probation. Kucoin was a more recent example, pleading guilty in 2025 for operating as a silver issuer without license and agreeing to pay nearly $ 300 million in penalties for optional and inconsistent KYC.
Onlyfans, Pornhub and Crypto learned the hard
In both industries, identity checks only became strict than after a scandal and an application made impossible.
Pornhub and only hardened their standards after the revelations of minor users and child protection failures. Crypto’s exchanges did it only after the regulators inflicted heavy fines and criminal charges for the low guarantees of the LMA.
From 2021, the Financial Action Working Group updated its global directives to apply LMA standards to the crypto, which means that the exchanges had to adopt KYC rules similar to banks.
“KYC is crucial to identify and pursue bad players; it is really the basis of effective work to recover assets. However, in practice, I observed that certain exchanges have gaps in their KYC data or do not correctly verify key documents such as skill evidence,” said CHU.
“With the rise of counterfeits generated by AI, these weaknesses have become more pronounced. Although there are improvements, Crypto KYC standards are still lagging behind compared to the traditional finance of integrity and rigor. ”
Today, integration as a creator on an adult site can involve more hoops than opening an account on an crypto exchange, but that does not mean that their systems are more secure or precise. Onlyfans did not extend why the application of Cintelegraph was rejected despite the submission of specific documents and social profiles.
The two sectors finally share the same trajectory: the systems only tightened after the crises exposed their weaknesses, and the stricter controls today are the product of these lessons learned to the hard.
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