Buying VPS using Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency is arguably the hottest topic of discussion these days in the digital world. However, not many people know what it exactly is. These currencies exist entirely online without any physical form of it existing; hence, they exist in a digital wallet from which owners can make online exchanges.

Their key characteristic is decentralization, i.e., their value is not upheld by banks but rather by their owners. As cryptocurrencies have gone mainstream, an increasing number of product and service providers accept them as a suitable payment method.

Similarly, many VPS hosting providers consider Bitcoin as an online payment option –the most expensive and oldest cryptocurrency. This is undoubtedly a convenient change for Bitcoin owners seeking to purchase VPS services.

However, it is naïve to consider all existing providers trustworthy; many sites you see may be facades for fraudulent activity. Therefore, there are several steps you must go through before purchasing web hosting plans, such as VPS, with cryptocurrency. If not, you could potentially lose a huge chunk of your monetary assets and potentially even end up in tremendous debt!

For context, one Bitcoin is currently valued at approximately thirty-five thousand US dollars. Therefore, precautions are not only encouraged but necessary!

Step 1: Obtaining Bitcoin:

Prior to contemplating buying VPS using Bitcoin, you must obtain it which is possible via two methods: purchasing or mining.

If you opt to purchase Bitcoin, buying from online exchange services is perhaps the most secure method. Some of the infamous ones include Coinbase, BlockFi and Bisq.

Each of these exchange services provides its customers with incentives to buy from them and not their competitors. For instance, BlockFi offers the best interest packages while Bisq offers the utmost privacy.

They charge a transaction fee which they keep as their own profit margin and can be up to 1.4% of your order, depending on how many Bitcoins are purchased.

Secondly, stockbrokers are also a secure choice to purchase Bitcoin. These are professional traders who purchase and sell cryptocurrencies on behalf of their clients.  However, these are not mainstream and the options are limited as of now. Robinhood is the most common investment broker that buys and sells Bitcoin and is a better option than exchange services because it charges no trade fee!

Thirdly, the least secure option to purchase Bitcoin is from an owner. Commonly referred to as peer-to-peer Bitcoin ownership, it entails the sale of the cryptocurrency from a current owner to a potential buyer. Use the utmost precaution while opting for this choice as you cannot hold any corporation accountable in case of fraud!

However, the best option to obtain Bitcoin if you cannot afford it is to mine it. This means creating new Bitcoins by solving computational problems.

However, mining any cryptocurrency alone using your laptop is most likely not to yield any results. Instead, joining mining pools is a more fruitful option; here, an entire group of people solve computational problems together for earning Bitcoins and dividing profits amongst themselves.

Step 2: Find VPS providers that accept Bitcoin.

After obtaining Bitcoins, the next task is finding VPS providers that accept Bitcoin for payment. One Google search provides long lists of such VPS providers; however, only a handful of these search results are legitimate providers. The best bet is asking individuals from your mining pool who have also purchased VPS services using Bitcoin for any leads.

Personal referrals to a provider are the best option to get linked with legitimate providers. An example is Router Hosting which provides VPS services for both Windows and Linux and accepts payment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies e.g. Ether and Litecoin.

In fact, their economical VPS plan for Windows starts at only $7.95 a month, making their prices difficult to beat! The following section covers how to ensure that you select a genuine VPS provider and not lose your Bitcoin to fraudulent activity.

Step 3: Verify the VPS provider.

Banks cannot issue chargebacks, and transactions are irreversible on Bitcoin transfers. Hence, you must ensure you do not skip this verification process and lose your cryptocurrency.

The verification process is threefold: research, explore social media and ICANN WHOIS search. Firstly, you can type in your potential VPS provider’s name in any search engine and analyse its reviews.

Secondly, search the provider on social media applications such as Facebook or Twitter. As a rule of thumb, most serious providers should have a social media platform and a significant number of followers.

Thirdly, utilise ICANN WHOIS’s extensive data index and search for your selected VPS provider’s domain name. You should be able to access the domain registrant’s contact information and the domain’s registration date. The older the domain, the more reliable it usually is.

For instance, you can access JavaPipe cloud’s registrant’s name, contact information and the domain’s registration date on WHOIS. Similarly, the company has an active social media presence and excellent reviews online. Such a provider profile is incriminatory of legitimate business and is considered safe to buy VPS from using Bitcoin.

Bottom Line:

The digital world is advancing by the day and one of its key successes is the introduction of cryptocurrencies. However, the digital world is not a utopian bubble immune from security breaches. Hence –and this cannot be stressed enough– precaution is key! Bitcoins are not loose change that can be thrown around carelessly and, hence, cannot be treated the same way.

Only a few hours of dedicated research aimed at finding legitimate VPS providers that accept Bitcoin as payment can save you from mental stress and monetary debt.