Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have become increasingly popular with sex workers over the past few years. Now an exclusive Las Vegas strip club is looking to set up its own digital currency network. The Legends Room will open later this month and become one of Sin City’s first adult entertainment venues to accept cryptocurrency for all services, from liquor to lap dances.

"The first question they ask me in the club when they use a credit card is, 'What does your receipt say on the statement?' So if you can use bitcoin, well, there's no problem," Nick Blomgren, founder of the Legends Room, told Motherboard.

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The club aims to set up their own internal cryptocurrency, LGD issued via Ethereum, for VIP members. LGD will be evaluated according to the bitcoin exchange rate and can be rented or sold outright. “Liquidity, if you own a membership and want to sell it, you can just sell your tokens in an exchange,” Peter Klamka, the club’s cryptocurrency expert, told International Business Times.

Members who don’t live in Las Vegas, and only plan to visit a few times a year, can temporarily lend LGD to other visitors. “The program will allow them to potentially create revenue from the rental of tokens,” the club’s website explains. Early investors can stock up on LGD before the club opens through the Bittrex exchange. The club initially plans to only create enough tokens for 6,000 members.

Although The Legends Room may be unique among high-scale strip clubs, cryptocurrency is already popular with sex workers throughout the industry. Several Las Vegas escort services accept bitcoin. Cryptocurrency is especially popular with independent contractors.

Sex worker Liara Roux uses bitcoin for both escort services and digital products like custom videos. “It's convenient because you don't have to worry about being robbed and clients can't do chargebacks like credit card s,” Roux told IBT. “I've definitely used it while traveling to feel more secure and I know other ladies who do so as well.” bitcoin is one of the only payment methods accepted directly through Backpage, a Craigslist-style website popular among sex workers and escorts.

Meanwhile, Klamka is busy devising creative solutions for members who want to use their blockchain wallets inside the club itself, interactions similar to slipping paper money into a dancer’s garter or thong. For example, mobile apps can interact with scannable QR codes on a performer's thigh. Performers can receive traditional paychecks from the club or receive their tips in bitcoins, whichever they prefer. “Some of them [performers] are really, really interested in that,” Klamka said. “We leave it up to the performer… I guarantee some of them will keep it in bitcoin.”

Adult film star Tasha Reign is set to be one of the club’s regular hosts for monthly parties. She already uses digital currencies for webcam performances, since several websites that stream erotic performances accept bitcoin or other virtual tokens, but she will still opt for dollars instead of bitcoin paychecks. “I have mixed feelings, because obviously it’s an unregulated coin,” Reign told IBT. However, she thinks performers generally earn more tips when working with cryptocurrency, because customers are less tightfisted with tokens than they are with dollars.

“Men have an ego and they don’t want to feel like they’re being charged,” Reign said. “They want to feel like this is something that could naturally come to them, whether it’s a fantasy or not...The guy is thinking this is just a token, it’s like a game.” Despite the lack of regulation, bitcoin payments may actually help sex workers avoid discrimination from financial institutions.

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Back in 2014, Reign’s PayPal accounts were repeatedly closed after processing payments for her legal porn production work in California. She knows several colleagues who’ve had the same problem with banks like Chase. “PayPal and certain banks discriminate against the adult industry in general,” she said. “Their [bank] accounts were closed down for no reason, because of some morality clause that was in there.”

Fast Company reported sex industry businesses faced similar troubles with Bank of America and American Express. If this Vegas strip club is successful, it may encourage more official institutions to adopt cryptocurrency options, which offer the protection of anonymity for both clients and performers. Then sex workers who use bitcoin could choose whether to do so independently, or with the security of a steady job. “For me, bitcoin is relatively easy to accept and use, but unfortunately many of my clients are nervous about using it,” Roux said. “It's not common yet, but I hope it will be more common soon!”

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