VPS Hosting. Bitcoin
There are several web and VPS hosting providers who accept the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a payment method. However, you can't trust all of these providers and there are several things you need to consider before buying a web hosting plan with bitcoins.
What Are Bitcoins?
Bitcoins (BTC) are the most popular type of decentralized digital currencies or, to be more specific, cryptocurrencies. Actually Bitcoin is not just a currency, but a whole digital asset invented and published by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.
Since 2009 more service providers and online shops started to accept Bitcoins as an online payment method. However, Bitcoins haven't been adopted by many major online shops. That's mainly because of fluctuation and because customers are not protected by chargeback options if they use Bitcoins to pay for a service.
This is also why you need to be extra careful when selecting a Bitcoin hosting provider. While it's great for the provider to be protected from fraudulent chargebacks and stolen PayPal accounts and the like, you as a customer are at risk of falling for a scam and never getting any service or refund. We'll discuss the details below.
How to Safely Buy a VPS with Bitcoins
There are several important things you need to consider if you want to buy a VPS or any other hosting service with Bitcoins. We'll guide you through the whole process to help you make a good choice and not loose any money.
1. Buy or Mine Bitcoins
The second option is to "mine" your own Bitcoins. Using only your own PC or server for Bitcoin mining likely won't be worth it. Your best bet is to join a Bitcoin mining pool, where a whole network of people provides resources for the common cause of earning Bitcoins and shares the profits.
2. Find a Bitcoin VPS Provider
Once you got your Bitcoins, you need to find a hosting provider who accepts Bitcoin as a payment method. Your best bet will be a Google search for "theserviceyouneed bitcoin", so for example "vps bitcoin" if you want to buy a VPS using Bitcoin as a payment method.
While there are a couple of VPS providers who offer Bitcoin payments, not all of them can be trusted. We'll tell you how you can make sure you make a good choice in the next section. First, we want to show you the services that we accept Bitcoin payments for.
JavaPipe Accepts Bitcoin Payments for the Following Services:If this list includes the service you're looking for, you can go ahead and order and there is no need to follow the instructions below. However, if this list doesn't include what you're looking for, continue reading.
3. Verify the Bitcoin Hosting Provider
Once you've found a provider that offers the service you need, you shouldn't just go ahead and buy the products! Like we mentioned earlier, there is no way to issue a chargeback or revert a Bitcoin transfer. It's also an anonymous payment method.
The above facts open a window of opportunity for criminals. It happens more often than you think that criminals create websites where they offer services that you can buy with Bitcoins. If you buy the service, you never receive it and the crooks just keep your Bitcoins.
That makes it mandatory to verify that you picked an established and reputable Bitcoin VPS hosting provider before you make any payment. For your own security we recommend that you follow the steps below:
- Research: Do a Google search for "providername + reviews" and see what comes up.
- Social Media: Go to Facebook and Twitter and search for the provider. Every serious provider will maintain a social presence and will have 300 or more followers/likes. Make sure to check the Facebook reviews as well.
- WHOIS Lookup: Go to ICANN WHOIS and search for the domain name of the provider. You'll then see the contact information of the domain registrant as well as the date the domain has been registered. Make sure the domain is older than 2-3 years and that it provides the actual contact details of the company and not some bogus information.
For example JavaPipe.com has been registered in 2004, its WHOIS provides the real contact information of the owner, you'll find only good reviews about us and we maintain active presences on both Twitter and Facebook. This is the ideal profile of a company that you can trust and safely pay with your Bitcoins.
Conclusion About Bitcoin for Hosting Payments
Bitcoins are a great and secure way to pay for services such as web hosting. The payments are (almost) instant, which is a big advantage. We endorse and support decentralized currencies such as Bitcoins and wish that more service providers would.
The only downside for consumers is the inability to revert a payment. This fact makes it mandatory to research the service provider before you make any payment. Only make a payment if you're absolutely sure the provider is trustworthy or be prepared to loose your money.
