Jessica Van Meir, co-founder of the adult subscription site MintStars, is leaving the business and handing over her shares to the creators who built it.
Van Meir sent an email to the user base in late June. She stated that 20 percent of her equity will go into a pool for creators. The remaining three percent is being donated to SWOP Behind Bars, a charity supporting incarcerated sex workers and trafficking survivors in the United States.
“With this step, which completes my personal mission to launch a company for and by adult content creators, I will also be officially moving on from my position as a Director at MintStars,” Van Meir wrote.
Van Meir is a Harvard PhD candidate researching the sex workers’ rights movement in Latin America. She co-founded the Boston Sex Workers and Allies Collective three years ago. She and Daniel Sargent started MintStars in 2021. Sargent will stay on as CEO.
This arrangement creates a share pool where creators get rewarded for the platform’s overall success, rather than just their individual earnings. Such a model is rare on subscription sites.
Van Meir said attacks on her academic research outside of MintStars influenced her decision to quit. “In the past year, my PhD research has faced attacks from anti-sex work organizations that have attempted to use my affiliation with MintStars to undermine the credibility of my research,” she wrote. “I would never want my work with the company to prevent my research and activism from benefiting sex worker communities, so it is time for me to pass the baton.”
The creator share pool will be allocated based on their contributions to the platform. MintStars plans to launch a points system to calculate ownership. If the company is sold or pays dividends, creators receive payments via phantom shares. Phantom shares are cash incentives tied to company performance. They do not dilute ownership stock or grant voting rights. They reward holders for helping the company succeed.
Van Meir said creators will earn points based on their revenue, referrals, and number of active months on the site. “This means that you will share in the profits of the company’s success, in a fair proportion to how much you’ve contributed,” she wrote.
What it means
Many social media platforms grew large because of sexual content. X and Instagram rely on it. OnlyFans has faced criticism for considering bans due to payment processing and banking discrimination.
Demonia, a financial dominatrix who has used MintStars since 2023, told 404 Media she has been frustrated by unstable platforms and online censorship. She plans to focus more effort on her MintStars presence following this announcement.
“I will be honest, I didn’t think I’d live to see such a revolutionary choice in a strictly capitalistic society and environment that promotes individualism to embarrassing levels, and I am elated to have chosen to be part of this project from its early steps,” Demonia wrote in an email. “Not only cooperative enterprises are healthier environments to work in on a general level, but there is now a further level of security for the creators who decide to invest in the platform as a source of income, and a great deal of motivation to see it succeed.”
AVN reported that the points program will launch this month. It will count past activity. MintStars will also introduce new governance measures, including a Creator Advisory Board.
“This co-ownership means to me that MintStars aims to empower sex workers on a practical level, recognizing their importance and their rights, without limiting our creativity and safety in the name of profit, and it will definitely impact my effort into making sure such an example lives to make the adult industry’s history,” Demonia said. “Not only because it’s a better choice for myself only, but because it also shows to everyone that there is a better way to enjoy our kinky spaces without being afraid of being deplatformed, of our content being rejected or deleted, of our entire existence being put into discussion.”
A spokesperson for SWOP Behind Bars told 404 Media that the partnership is an important step toward an ecosystem of care for adult industry workers. They expect the share donation will help them understand and meet those workers’ needs.
MintStars uses the USDC stablecoin to process payments. Fans pay with credit cards. Creators can receive payouts in fiat currency. Last month, MintStars announced a partnership with Payy Network.
“Creators face financial discrimination every day, bank accounts shut down, payment processors blocking transactions, and earnings delayed for weeks,” Sargent said in an announcement of the partnership. “Crypto solved access, but it didn’t solve privacy or safety. Nobody’s financial activity should be publicly exposed on a blockchain.” Blockchain settlements also prevent chargebacks, censorship, and banking discrimination.
“The fact of the matter in the adult industry is that without the working women who make platforms all of their revenue, the latter would never succeed and we can now choose for what we believe in and choose who believes in us,” Demonia said. “MintStars has given us the opportunity to have our voices heard. I do hope more sex workers will put their safety and rights first and focus their energies where they will be undoubtedly rewarded, as it’s been proven over and over again since the beginning of this project.”
