VPNs relevant for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in 2024
I know about cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin first-hand. As an expert in protecting information and privacy on the Internet, I want to share some features of the safe use of VPN when working with crypto-exchanges and exchangers.
Cryptocurrency didn’t revolutionize the financial markets, but for many people, Bitcoin and other well-known blockchain projects have become a convenient means of payment, and for some even a good alternative income or a way to attract investment.
We all know about the difficult legal field of Bitcoin. In some countries, Bitcoin is illegal, and in some, it is completely legalized. And there is a third group of countries where the legal field around crypto isn’t defined.
When do you need to think about VPN?
What VPN services are optimized for crypto-wallet, exchanges, and exchangers?
What unobvious risks does a VPN minimize?
Next, I will answer these questions and also offer 5 reliable paid and 5 less secure but free VPN services that I’ve personally used to access crypto assets several times.
This is a list of VPN services that are best suited for use with Bitcoin:
- ExpressVPN: Premium VPN for any security and privacy issues. It is proved by the fact that it uses diskless servers that don’t keep logs. This guarantees the privacy of the user.
- NordVPN: It also begins to introduce diskless servers, but its main advantage is a double VPN. Double protection completely prevents the ability to track the current location. The service uses AES-256 “non-disclosure” encryption. There are static IP addresses suitable for crypto exchanges.
- Surfshark: Ideal for those who plan to use the VPN most of the time and save money. The price of Surfshark starts at $1.99 and at the same time, its capabilities are practically not inferior to ExpressVPN and NordVPN (there are static IPs).
- CyberGhost VPN: A universal VPN service that provides access to special NoSpy servers that only company employees have access to.
- PIA: Interesting service from a technical point of view that allows you to configure the degree of encryption, change DNS, and access the network through Shadowsocks.
Free VPN services for crypto:
- ProtonVPN: Perhaps the least problematic free VPN. There is no traffic limitation, but the speed is insufficient to quickly respond to Bitcoin price changes.
- Hide.me: Traffic limits (10 GB per month). Also, it’s not fast enough and sometimes may not connect to the desired country. No registration is required.
- Windscribe: 10 GB per month and slow speed as well. Failures are less common than when using hide.me, but registration is required for use.
- TunnelBear: In terms of speed, choice of “clean” servers, and other parameters, the best of the competitors. But ... The limit is 1500 MB per month.
- Turbo VPN: It can be convenient on mobile devices for tasks that don’t require fast speed. It has no limit and doesn’t require sign up.
Free services often don’t have sufficient functionality to prevent leakage of the user's current location. Also, their IP addresses are known to everyone.
The meaning of VPN for cryptocurrencies
Let's see in what cases it makes sense to use a VPN or proxy for Bitcoin.
There are three main areas of the app for Bitcoin:
- Storage
- Transfer from wallet to wallet
- Account management on the crypto exchange
We will analyse them in more detail.
For storage, you are to have a wallet, first. To do it, most often you need an email. So, you need to have a separate email. If you use your regular email, sooner or later this can lead to the identification of the owner.
It is important to sign up an email, then a crypto wallet, and transfer it to the seller (exchange or exchanger) anonymously, masking your IP address. So you need a VPN or proxy.
To transfer coins from wallet to wallet (payment, replenishment of the exchange, exchange for electronic money), you should already have a wallet with a balance. If you have it and you used it without a VPN, I advise you to create a new one, transfer the balance to it through an exchanger or exchange and then use it with a VPN.
The riskiest type of use of Bitcoin is trading on exchanges. Here you need to be prepared for the fact that even if today’s earnings on Bitcoin are legal, then tomorrow everything can change. Isn't it better to work through a VPN from the start?
Besides, large exchanges don’t register users from some countries for which there are sanctions. In this case, you will have to look for alternative data for registration in another country and work with your asset already through the IP address of that country. And that means using a VPN or proxy.
Thus, it makes sense to use a VPN / proxy for Bitcoin for any type of interaction, especially if you aren’t sure about the full legitimacy of cryptocurrencies in your country.
Best VPN for Bitcoin, taking into account the situation in 2024
Significant bills come into effect in several countries this year, affecting the legitimacy of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For example, in Russia, it is planned to adopt a law prohibiting private individuals from making any transactions with assets in cryptocurrencies. Only legal storage and inheritance will be possible.
In many other countries, the regulation of critical assets also continues to gain momentum.
Is it time to stock up on anonymous wallets and accounts registered via a VPN?
The best option for living in the “shadow” - ExpressVPN.
It has everything you need for a completely anonymous Internet connection.
But this isn’t the only option. Read on and you will find the most suitable service for you.
Comparison of the main characteristics of VPN services that provide confidentiality during operations with Bitcoin
| ExpressVPN | NordVPN | Surfshark | CyberGhost | PIA | |
| Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands | Panama | The Netherlands | Romania | United States |
| No-logs policy | Independently audited | Independently audited | Independently audited | Independently audited | Court-proven |
| Speed | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps |
| Servers | 3000+ servers in 105 countries | 5900+ servers in 60 countries | 3200+ servers in 100 countries | 10200+ servers in 100 countries | 30000+ servers in 84 countries |
| Simultaneous connections | 8 | 6 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Starting price | $4.99/month | $2.99/month | $1.99/month | $2.03/month | $2.03/month |
| Review | ExpressVPN review | NordVPN review | Surfshark review | CyberGhost review | PIA review |
| Discount |
ExpressVPN
I have been using and testing ExpressVPN for many years. In terms of security, reliability, speed, and quality of apps, it is undoubtedly one of the best in the world.
Price
ExpressVPN offers three tariff plans that differ only in the duration of the subscription:
| 1 month | 6 months | 1 year | |
| Price (monthly) | $12.95 | 9.99 | $6.25 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Among the payment methods, there are cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin).
Also read:
NordVPN
NordVPN is an excellent choice for any purpose for which you need to change your region, bypass lockouts, or hide activities. Since 2019, this is my main VPN service for work and personal use. I like the quality of the connection and the degree of data protection.
Price
NordVPN offers four tariff plans that differ in duration of subscription:
| 1 month | 1 year | 2 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $12.99 | $4.59 | 2.99 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
The service accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies for payment.
Read more:
Surfshark
Surfshark managed to achieve a premium level of service while maintaining the low price at which it entered the market in 2018. This is really a unique opportunity to use a VPN with practically no disadvantages at a price that is 1.5-3 times lower than that of competitors.
Surfshark VPN has passed all security tests on all platforms.
Price
Surfshark has the lowest price when subscribing for 1 and 2 years:
| 1 month | 6 months | 2 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $15.45 | $6.49 | $2.99 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
They accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.
Read more:
CyberGhost VPN
CyberGhost VPN is also successfully used for payments and other operations with Bitcoin. I want to advise this service to those who want to use their own virtual IP address. It can be additionally rented from CyberGhost.
The service doesn’t support some advanced technologies, like competitors, but, on the other hand, it has its own secure servers in the Romanian data center (most services rent all servers from hosting companies). These servers are suitable for the most demanding tasks.
Price
The table enlists the four CyberGhost VPN plans:
| 1 month | 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $12.99 | $4.29 | $2.19 | $2.29 |
| Money-back guarantee | 45 | 45 | 45 | 45 |
Rent a dedicated IP - an additional $5 per month.
As for cryptocurrencies, only Bitcoin is accepted for payment.
Read more: CyberGhost all features review
Private Internet Access
Price
Private Internet Access is one of the cheapest VPNs:
| 1 month | 1 year | 2 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $11.99 | $3.33 | $2.03 |
| Money-back guarantee | 7 | 7 | 7 |
PIA accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, BitcoinCash, Zcash, and Litecoin.
Read more: PIA all features review
Free VPNs with Privacy Protection
Can I use free VPNs to conduct Bitcoin transactions or trade on the exchange?
The answer to this question is ambiguous.
You are unlikely to succeed in trading on the exchange if the information on quotes is updated with a long delay or from time to time there will be a loss of communication. And if at the same time you are monitoring charts of price changes for several pairs of cryptocurrencies? It is obvious that the low speed (0.1-4Mbps) that the free services offer isn’t enough for you.
At the same time, for transferring one-time payments, this is quite acceptable. The only problem is waiting for transaction confirmation. If you are “kicked” out of the network, this can lead to unforeseen consequences.
Free VPNs are much worse than paid VPNs to protect the connection in unforeseen situations. The function of Kill Switch, which is designed to block all traffic in case of communication failure with the VPN server, is available for few providers.
ProtonVPN
Free ProtonVPN is a free version of one of the best VPN providers in 2024. Its main advantage is a good level of security and the absence of a traffic limit.
Disadvantages: Not suitable for online trading due to low speed and blocked IP addresses.
Hide.me
Even less available IPs are at free hide.me. This VPN service is convenient because it doesn’t require any signup.
Disadvantages: Monthly traffic limit, blocked IP addresses, low speed, connection failures.
Windscribe
Free Windscribe is similar to hide.me because it has the same traffic limit but requires registration. Without registration, the limit is reduced by 5 times. Testing showed that it is more stable than the competitor.
Disadvantages: Speed often drops to zero.
TunnelBear
Free TunnelBear is suitable for transactions and Bitcoin trading with economical use of traffic. The service has good speed and a good selection of countries, comparable to many mid-level paid services.
Disadvantages: Monthly limit of 1500 MB.
Turbo VPN
The following service can be tried for operations with Bitcoin on mobile platforms. Free TurboVPN doesn’t require registration and doesn’t have a traffic limit.
Disadvantages: “dirty” IP addresses, a small selection of countries, an abundance of intrusive advertising.
Conclusion
As you see the amount of crypto-currency users is growing from day to day. But like all the inventions crypto-currency has both positive and negative sides. The positive one consists in its convenience, the negative one lies in its vulnerability. And like any other currency it needs to be protected.
The most reliable protective measure one can use for crypto-currency is a VPN service for bitcoin. A high-quality VPN service for bitcoin is able to supply its customer with appropriate level of defense. By using a VPN for crypto-currency we hide our IP address and encrypt all the transferring data, which is extremely useful when speaking about currency.
One definitely should remember about those aspects a good VPN for bitcoin needs to give. At the best VPN rating for bitcoin the latest and most reliable VPN services are presented for your choice.
Having read the article, one should remember:
- More than 100,000 people and businesses use the Bitcoin crypto-currency, so the popularity of the crypto-currency is growing each day;
- Like other currencies bitcoin faces different problems. One of the main issues is its protection from uncontrolled interception.
- There is one professional help named a VPN service, which is aimed to protect your crypto-currency from any adversaries.
- There are several aspects that a high-quality VPN service should give. Let’s enumerate them one again, there are strong tunneling, a reliable VPN provider, unlimited bandwidth, an easy to install and use service, a professional support, a bitcoin accepting VPN.
- The best bitcoin VPNs 2098 are presented in the rating and claimed to have all the necessary facilities.
So, don’t forget about all these helpful notes and you will definitely make a good pick! We hope you will be able to choose the best VPN service for bitcoin with the best VPN service rating 2024.
FAQ
Which is better, VPN or proxy?
Many users choose between VPN and proxy. It seems to many that the virtual private network is too complex and is used mainly by companies or specialists. In 2024, that’s not the case. Many services offer convenient, easy-to-use apps that will configure protection themselves, and their use is reduced to pressing a single button.
Proxies are really technically simpler to implement. However, you are unlikely to find so many high-quality apps for their use. Manually configuring them in a system or web browser is quite time-consuming. Especially on smartphones.
But if you still doubt it, choose the services that offer this and that. All VPN services from the top 5 offer both access to the virtual network and the proxy (add-ons for web browsers).
What is cryptocurrency?
To begin with, let us find a plain and clear cryptocurrency definition.
The notion “cryptocurrency” came into the world in the year of 1998, when the developer of Crypto library Wei Dai introduced a new form of currency based on cryptography.
Cryptocurrency – decentralized digital financial assets that make its owners secure and anonymous while transactions.
What was the purpose to use cryptocurrency?
As digital assets appeared to be wide-spread, the number of cyberattacks increased. The financial sector became severely targeted in 2009.
Just have a look at real facts:
Citibank lost millions of dollars after cyberattacks in 2009.
On July 4 NYSE website and Yahoo finance section underwent the cyberattack.
IndianExpress reports that criminal activity in the cyberspace became the reason for more than 1/3 companies to lose revenue in 2016.
The investigation conducted in 2009 by Semantic showed that 43% of 2100 companies surveyed lost about £1.2 million.
These and many other facts led to the necessity to work out the most secure method of payment. Cryptocurrency payment is considered to be the safest. Moreover, cryptocurrency allows conducting transactions anonymously.
But what about cryptocurrency? What differs it from fiat money?
Here are the answers:
How does cryptocurrency work?
Just as we start talking about cryptocurrency, blockchain is the next thing that comes up.
But what is blockchain? To put it simply, Blockchain is the database that contains information on transactions, trading, and contracts within the system introduced in cryptographic form.
The blockchain is the basis of any cryptocurrency. It contains the interconnected blocks of information. It is impossible to delete or change the data stored on these blocks, which is one of the main distinctive features of Blockchain technology.
Blockchain was worked out by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. However, nobody knows if Satoshi Nakamoto an individual human being or a group of people united by one goal – cryptocurrency development. But it is evident, that he or they spent thousands of hours to create Blockchain.
This decentralized database doesn’t possess a dedicated server or a computer hard drive to store information. It is divided into small pieces of information and kept by the participants of this network.
In simple words, all cryptocurrency holders store this information.
Important! It is impossible to change the single block notwithstanding the desire of its holder to crack it. The changes in Blockchain are possible only in case someone will manage to hack all the blocks in a chain, however, in practice is impossible.
The prefix “crypto” is determined as the encryption and cryptographic hash-function. In such a way, every cryptocurrency holder has both private and public key.
The private key underlies the transactions and provides cryptocurrency delivery from one person to another. In its turn, the public key is used to verify the transactions of other Blockchain peers.
How to use cryptocurrency? It is difficult to overestimate cryptocurrency value, but not everyone understands how to use it.
We’ll describe how to use cryptocurrency in a matter of minutes!
It is required to use e-wallet to use cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and other. There are 2 variants to create cryptocurrency wallets: Download the client to the hard drive of the device or Online cryptocurrency wallet.
One of the most popular Bitcoin wallets one will find on blockchain.info. The registration takes no more than a couple of seconds.
But what are the reasons to invest in cryptocurrency?
The reasons to use cryptocurrency are diverse: from making purchases to keeping the money. Let us enumerate the reasons for cryptocurrency use:
Reason #1
Payments. Cryptocurrency allows accomplishing anonymous and quick transactions between individuals or making purchases on the Internet.
Reason #2
Money keeping. It is 99% impossible to hack cryptocurrency wallet. Thus, your virtual currency is under the protection of up-to-date technologies.
Reason #3
Investment. Bitcoin and other well-known types of cryptocurrency allow making money by means of fluctuations in the rate of exchange.
Reason #4
Business. Starting a business from scratch many companies raise the finances by means of ICO (crowdfunding). For example, ICO project “Filecoin” raised $52 million in the presale.
What’s the cryptocurrency status in 2022?
Bitcoin at this time plays a very small role in the payment system. It is not a stable source of value, and it does not constitute legal tender.”
J. Yellen, chair of the Federal Reserve
The legal status of cryptocurrencies varies in different places around the globe. There are the countries where cryptocurrency transactions are authorized. In other countries, Bitcoin transactions are not allowed for the banks but may be conducted by individuals.
Let us study in detail the legal status of cryptocurrencies worldwide.
Cryptocurrency in Australia
Cryptocurrency transactions are defined as barter transactions in Australia. The companies dealing with digital currency are obliged to keep tabs on such transactions. Tokens are consigned to be an ordinary income and are estimated at Australian dollars.
Cryptocurrency in Canada
Bitcoin transactions became legal in Canada in September 2017 when BCSC in Canada listed a Bitcoin investment banking firm officially. Still, cryptocurrencies aren’t true forms of money in the country.
Cryptocurrency in China
Being the country with high economic advance, China plays an important role in the cryptocurrency sphere. According to Goldman Sachs report, 80% of Bitcoin traded value accrues to yuan. In spite of the fact that the People’s Bank of China banned payment with cryptocurrency (Alipay and Tencent are forbidden as well), substantial cryptocurrency growth is observed.
Cryptocurrency in the European Union
The legal status of cryptocurrency in the EU countries is determined by the Court of Justice of the European Union. As it is stated in the document “…bitcoin is a means of payment used in a similar way to legal means of payment and the transactions … be exempt from VAT”.
Cryptocurrency in Germany
Cryptocurrency status in Germany may be called neither legal nor illegal. In August 2017 the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany claimed that cryptocurrency might be used for clearing transactions in the country.
Cryptocurrency in Japan
After Bitcoin and Ethereum were authorized in the country in April 2017, fiat money still dominates there. However, the specialists reckon that the country may influence the cryptocurrency market significantly.
Cryptocurrency in Israel
Since the beginning of 2017 Bitcoin is recognized as the property in Israel. It is determined by the currency regulations law, therefore cryptocurrency selling bares tax. Two types of taxes are presupposed: VAT and revenue-based levy.
Cryptocurrency in the United Kingdom
Nowadays, the UK is reckoned to be one of the leading financial centers in the world. Numerous blockchain and Bitcoin project are launched there. Furthermore, it is possible to settle the bill in some bars of London by dint of Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency in the USA
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bitcoin is recognized to be virtual currency. Since March 2013 it is possible to exchange cryptocurrency for fiat money. However, the situation differs from state to state. Thus, it is possible to buy goods and pay for services by means of digital currency. What is more surprising the US Securities and Exchange Commission initiated the 1st cryptocurrency fraud case in autumn 2017.
As one could notice the legal status of cryptocurrency is different in various places around the world. Thus, virtual currency is banned in:
Iceland, Romania, Kyrgyzstan, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Bolivia
However, the situation may be changed at any time. This list may be enriched or vice versa. It depends on local laws and the economic situation of countries.
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