BURBANK, Calif. – Despite increased regulatory scrutiny, Germany’s declaration that bitcoins constitute a unit of exchange (and therefore are subject to taxation), and wildly fluctuating exchange rates, the virtual currency continues to gain traction in both virtual and brick-and-mortar commercial environments. Popularity is fueled, in part, by some early adopters’ tales of extraordinary success.

Usually quick to jump on new technologies and financial platforms, adult industry entrepreneurs have been somewhat cautious in their approach to bitcoins. Of course, anyone who’s been in the industry for any length of time can tell horror stories about third-party payment processor meltdowns and alternative billing that failed to deliver on promises.

Regardless, a handful of adult companies now accept bitcoins for payment of membership fees. Transsexual content specialist Grooby Productions is the latest to dive into the experimental pool.

“We’re experimenting with bitcoins to enable access to the websites for those living in countries we’re currently unable to bill,” owner Steven Grooby said. “We’ve identified a high amount of traffic coming from countries where the unavailability of credit cards and other obstacles block our customers from joining our sites. There is also the benefit of those who wish to remain anonymous and not have records of adult purchases on their credit cards, which will appeal to many.

“The system is also very easy and intuitive to use,” he added. “In our first weeks of testing, we’ve had joins from North America and Asia, and we aim to create language-specific join pages in the coming weeks.”

Grooby said his company is auditioning the peer-to-peer-based virtual currency across its network of websites. More information is available at Grooby.com.