The post-2020 payment-processor reordering of adult media

Abstract. Between late 2020 and mid-2021, a connected series of decisions by Mastercard, Visa, OnlyFans, Pornhub/MindGeek, and a handful of US legislators reorganised the compliance and distribution architecture of the legitimate adult industry more thoroughly than any other sequence of events since the late-1990s pay-site era. This entry surveys the precipitating events, the documented industry response, the structural consequences for studios in the mid-tier band, and the new equilibrium that has stabilised by mid-2026 — with an honest assessment of which effects were intended, which were collateral, and which remain unresolved.

By Lena Hoffmann. 1,730 words · 8 min · 7 citations.