VPNs are all about privacy and security. However, many people believe that even the best VPNs have a weak link: the payment method. After all, giving your payment details to a company can go against the whole ethos of anonymity.
If this is something you’re concerned about, what are the alternatives? Proton VPN offers the option to send cash (remember cash?) in an envelope, but it’s more common to see top providers giving users the chance to pay directly with Bitcoin (BTC).
A NordVPN spokesperson explains the practice this way: “We strive to offer our customers as many ways to purchase our service as possible… Cryptocurrency is often used by people who value privacy and security, so we want to accommodate their needs as well.”
But should you seriously consider this?
The Benefits of Paying with Bitcoin
The most obvious benefit of paying for a VPN (and the reason providers offer them) is increased privacy. Paying with cryptocurrency means you don’t have to give away your private financial information. Plus, the blockchain-based nature of the payment also makes it harder to trace – you don’t even need a bank account.
If you live in a country where VPNs are banned, paying with crypto can be essential to staying safe online. Plus, it’s harder for invading governments to block a Bitcoin payment than a payment with traditional money.
Additionally, if you never give out your private information, you will never be at risk of hacks and data breaches targeting your VPN provider.
The disadvantages of paying with Bitcoin
The biggest concern for many people is Bitcoin’s impact on the environment. The cryptocurrency industry produces a huge amount of environmental waste through both Bitcoin mining and storage. There are also other mistakes.
Many leading VPN providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee (or something similar) that lets you try out the service before committing to a long-term subscription. However, if you paid for your subscription with Bitcoin, this can be tricky. Bitcoin transactions are irreversible by nature, so you’ll need to specifically ask the company to send you a separate wire transfer for the same value if you decide to cancel. This isn’t a huge deal for the bigger names in the VPN sphere, but some of the sketchier providers may not be so generous.
Bitcoin’s value also fluctuates quite frequently. What looks like a great deal when you sign up could be worth much more than its cash value in a few months. It’s risky, but that’s crypto in general.
So do I have to pay with crypto?
If you care about the environment, the simple answer is no. But if your biggest concern is privacy, or if your country has strict VPN restrictions, then it’s definitely worth considering.
That said, the most secure VPNs don’t log your information anyway. As David Peterson, General Manager of Proton VPN explains:
“We offer anonymous payment options to reassure people of our privacy commitments, but Proton VPN has a strict no-logs policy, so we don’t keep any records of anyone’s online activity. This means people can be confident that their online activity is private and secure, no matter which payment option they choose.”
Realistically, it’s probably more important that you choose the right provider than worry too much about the payment method.