At BitLaunch, we believe that privacy is a fundamental human right and that the payment services many use today have too much control. This isn’t just an ideal we tout – it’s a fundamental part of our services and the reason we take our payments exclusively in 50+ cryptocurrencies and only require an email for signup.
However, we also understand that the concept of Bitcoin VPS hosting is alien to many. While we’re working hard to change perceptions, paying for a VPS with Bitcoin is often seen as a niche use-case. In reality, we believe basically anyone can benefit from a crypto-focused payment system, whether it’s to protect their identity, failure to open a traditional bank account, or to support the wider movement of freedom in finances.
Decentralized payments
If you’ve read even a little about cryptocurrency, you’ve probably seen the term “decentralized” thrown around, but may not necessarily understand what it means. A centralized system is controlled and operated by a single entity, such as a bank, government, or individual actor. Conversely, decentralized technology is run by a network of participants that operate on the basis of mutual consent.
When you pay for a Bitcoin VPS via BitLaunch, you use cryptocurrency, a decentralized payment system where each link of the chain is immutable and verified. This holds many benefits:
- You don’t have to rely on traditional payments, which are liable to fail. As centralized payment systems are, well, centralized, they have a single point of failure. Cryptocurrency does not have this issue.
- Whether it’s due to inscrutable “fraud prevention” polices or because banks don’t trust a source you’re sending money to, payments can be purposefully declined by banks. This can jeopardize vital server uptime, whereas a crypto payment is more or less unstoppable once it has been sent.
- In countries such as India, Indonesia, China, and Kenya, hundreds of millions of citizens don’t have bank accounts. It can therefore be difficult or impossible for them to use traditional payment methods to pay for services. Paying for a VPS with Bitcoin opens the door to these users, who often have innovative ideas.
- You support a fairer system. Unlike banks, decentralized payment systems don’t invest your money, only to give you a meager percentage of their earnings. They don’t stop you from accessing your account when their personal finances go awry, or sell on your data to advertisers. Your finances are kept in your cryptocurrency wallet or BitLaunch account, and you have full control over them.
Using a VPS as a VPN for increased privacy
With the sheer amount of information collected about users online by advertisers, websites, and governments, a VPN is a necessary tool. They encrypt your connection so your data is safe from snoopers, while also giving you a new IP address so that your details can’t be traced by your ISP.
An anonymous VPN also means you can appear to be from any geographic location of your choosing, allowing you to access content from other countries on streaming services, for example, or view news sites that are blocked outside of their home country.
VPS vs VPN: What are the differences?
It’s worth noting that while a VPS and VPN are very similar in their naming, in most cases they provide very different services. VPS stands for Virtual Private Server, meaning that you rent an entire server in a different location to do with what you wish. Though you can connect to it with an encrypted protocol, keeping your information safe, it’s purpose isn’t solely to protect your identity – it can also be used for development, to host a game, Plex, a TeamSpeak server, or any number of other things.
Conversely, a Virtual Private Network is designed to do one thing: keep you secure. They tend to use strong AES encryption to do so, routing all of your computer’s traffic (not just that to the VPN) through a private tunnel.
However, as a VPS server offers that additional flexibility, you’re also able to set up a VPN on a VPS. Depending on your use case, this can have some major advantages over traditional VPS providers.
Why Use a VPS as a VPN?
While all of the benefits of a VPN server listed above sound great, their effectiveness varies significantly depending on your providers. A traditional, paid VPN service means your privacy is only as secure as your provider. As they set up the VPN software on the server on your behalf, they are able to do the following:
- Snoop on your data or sell it to advertisers
- Keep logs, in some cases even when they say they don’t
- Hold a backdoor for authorities, should they need to pursue a criminal case.
Setting up a bitcoin VPS on a VPN lets you avoid these issues. You control everything on the server, including logs, can personally verify its security and take additional measures, and are less likely to be a target for hackers on top.
Of course, the benefit of buying a service straight up versus using a VPS on a VPN is the convenience. Putting in some personal details and downloading in an app is very pain-free. However, BitLaunch has tried to close that gap as much as possible with a detailed AlgoVPN setup guide and one-click installs for WireGuard and OpenVPN on our servers.
Support a better and more open internet
At BitLaunch, we believe the internet should be open, free, and devoid of interference by any single government or authority whose views aren’t in line with general consensus. If you agree, you can additionally use our servers to run a full Bitcoin node to contribute to the currency’s future.
