What On Earth Is "Titcoin"?

World, it's time to meet Titcoin, the latest Internet currency created as a spinoff of the bitcoin. Take a guess, where do you think the Titcoin's purchasing power lies? That's right — in porn. The latest cryptocurrency to join a family of 275 — yup, 275 — Titcoins are specifically targeted at the porn industry and porn viewers, because there's something just wrong about paying for your porn with mere dollars. Early signups for Titcoin began on June 21. We're here to provide everything you need to know before deciding whether or not to take part in the latest Internet currency craze.

What is Titcoin?

Titcoin is bitcoin, only used to buy porn. The makers of this potentially lucrative new products are Edward Mansfield, Richard Allen, and a third, anonymous party, who have created "another Bitcoin clone, but one with a purpose." According to the Titcoin forum, Mansfield, Allen and co. are "seeking owners and operaters of adult-oriented entities including website owners, adult novelty stores and transaction processing companies" who will "receive a mutually agreed amount of pre-mined coins" in exchange for supporting Titcoin as a payment method.

As with most digital currencies, Titcoin will effectively be treated as cash, with users paying for services — in this case, porn subscriptions — with Titcoins instead of credit cards.

Can it only be used for porn?

While the target market for Titcoins is certainly the porn industry, its makers are not so near-sighted as to limit Titcoin's applications to a single business subset. Rather, according to Titcoin's (albeit fake) Vimeo ad, the cryptocurrency is "perfect for offline and online businesses such as nightclubs, college bars, jukeboxes, vending machines, online stores… it may have no limits."

While Vimeo's ad might have been fallacious, its message was not, and Titcoin's founders are certainly open to various possibilities for its usage.

How many are there?

When all have been successfully mined, there will be 69 million. No, we are not kidding. Yes, that was purposeful.

Are people interested?

According to Titcoin's makers, people are very interested. In an interview with Vice, Mansfield revealed that Titcoin is already making considerable waves in the porn market. According to Mansfield, Titcoin has been contacted "by a lot of performers who do webcam streaming" who are interested in receiving donations in the form of Titcoins from loyal viewers. Mansfield made the following analogy to explain how the donation system would work:

It’s like when you go to a strip club and you throw dollars at the strippers, but online, instead of throwing dollar bills, you could throw digital currency at performers on the webcam. Viewers would pay to watch, but they could also throw Titcoins at performers.

Why use Titcoins?

Part of the appeal of Titcoins seems to reside in its relative anonymity — porn watchers who prefer to avoid revealing porn charges on their monthly statements would be able to operate under the radar with Titcoins. Moreover, having industry-specific digital currencies would add another layer of privacy for users and viewers, which Mansfield and co. believes will be a major selling point for Titcoins.

Where can I find or use Titcoins?

Titcoin is keeping its rollout on the DL, but here's what we do know according to their forum:

Stage 1: One week to secure pre-mine target (0.75% of total coins issued)Stage 2: One week exclusive launch to members of the cryptocurrency community (happening now, beginning on June 21)Stage 3: Official public launch via paid advertising, social media campaigns and launch events

Is this just a big ploy to promote pornography?

According to Mansfield, no. In his interview with Vice, the founder defended his colleagues' industry choice, saying that they are "not trying to promote pornography per se." Per se. He continued, "We are walking [a] thin line." Yes, yes you are. "We are not really pornographers — we are basically business guys who are bringing in a currency which caters to a specific audience." That audience just happens to be the porn industry.

What are Titcoin's chances for success?

Unclear, to be honest. While bitcoins and other digital currencies are trendy, if nothing else, not all of its spinoffs have been particularly successful. There was Flappycoin and Nyancoin, neither of which fared particularly well, but then again, there was also Dogecoin, which seems to be rising in value.

When will it end?

We don't know.

Image: Fotolia