Bunny wants to create a crypto to bypass banks, make shopping for pornography anonymous

Bunny Software, a company founded by porn entrepreneurs, is raising funds through an initial coin offering that promises to build a blockchain-based global payment network to supplant old-fashioned money and make remittances anonymous for the US$103 billion adult entertainment industry.

The Seychelles-based company, which has raised US$3.17 million in pre-initial token sales as of this week, is issuing 1 billion tokens known as Bunny, aiming for them to be used as the de facto currency for the entire porn industry, according to a white paper outlining the scope of the coin offering (ICO).

The month-long public sale starting on April 25 will involve 70 per cent of the tokens, according to the offerer. Each Bunny is equivalent to US$1.43, or 0.000100 ethereum, with the price increasing by 1 per cent every day from March 13, rising to 0.000207 ethereum by May 25 at the end of the sale. Unsold tokens will be burnt, Bunny said.

Bunny is the latest among thousands of companies piling into the vast unregulated market of cryptocurrencies, getting ahead of financial regulators and central banks to raise capital from investors who’re eager to chase after the next bitcoin. There are 1,500 different types of cryptocurrencies in circulation with a combined valuation estimated at US$600 billion, of which bitcoin - first released in 2009 - is the best known and most heavily traded.

Cryptocurrencies, created through the use of blockchain technology, have a mixed reception in Asia. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are accepted as tokens of exchange in Japan and Hong Kong, while China has banned banks from dealing with any form of digital currency.