ProtonBlog(new window)
bitcoin secure email service

Proton Mail now includes Bitcoin support! You can now get secure email anonymously

Share this page

Starting from version 3.11 of Proton Mail, it is now possible to pay for premium Proton Mail secure email account using Bitcoin. We have designed the payment system to work seamlessly so that Bitcoin payments are automatically converted to Proton Mail credits which can be used to pay for upgrades, pay invoices, or top up your account. This feature was long overdue, so we are glad to finally introduce this.

Long time followers of Proton Mail will know that we actually have a deep connection with Bitcoin, going all the way back to the very beginning of Proton Mail’s story. We have always been quite interested in cryptocurrencies and blockchain, as they empower the same principles that inspired us to create Proton Mail. These are the principles of freedom, privacy, and an Internet ecosystem where all have an equal opportunity to thrive, free from many of the artificial constructs that control commerce today.

Why Bitcoin

Our appreciation of cryptocurrencies deepened after we had a first hand experience with the potential of Bitcoin. Back in 2014 when Proton Mail first launched, our first community fundraiser was infamously frozen by PayPal(new window), leaving us without access to the funds necessary to run the service. However, thanks to Bitcoin and the support of the Bitcoin community(new window), we were able to continue to receive funds via Bitcoin ensuring the success of the project.

Three years on, Proton Mail has come a long way, and we are still proud to have many users from the global cryptocurrency community. As we mentioned in our guide on how to buy Bitcoins(new window), secure email can actually play an important role in keeping Bitcoins secure, either as an email address to use with online Bitcoin wallets or exchanges, or for the storage of sensitive data.

Over the past three years, we have had an unofficial way of accepting Bitcoins which involved manually sending BTC to our Bitcoin donation address, and manually confirming the transaction with our support team to receive account credits. However, the general increase in the number of Bitcoin transactions over the years has made that approach unfeasible and made development of an automated system necessary. We feel this is indicative of a broader trend, where the increased mainstream interest in Bitcoin will make it harder for merchants not to support Bitcoin, which will lead to more Bitcoin support, more transactions, and perhaps the continued appreciation of Bitcoin prices.

From a business perspective, we have witnessed the fragility and uncertainty of the traditional financial sector, with PayPal, credit card, and bank account freezes, fraud, or hacks becoming increasingly common. For any operating business, cryptocurrencies are an important form of diversification. Whereas companies in the past might have held multiple fiat currencies distributed cross multiple financial institutions as insurance, Proton Mail is now also holding a significant portion of our reserves in Bitcoin. Ultimately, we believe having a more significant portion of our revenue via Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies actually reduces our business risk, by providing more redundancy in the event of the failure of more traditional payment methods. While this is fairly progressive thinking today, we believe that with time, more businesses will also adopt this view.

We’re excited to further deepen our connections with the cryptocurrency community with this step, and we look forward to doing our part to ensure that the brighter future promised by blockchain does become a reality. In the coming quarters, we plan to continue improving cryptocurrency support as part of our mission to build the most secure email service(new window) ever. Let us know which coins or tokens you would like us to support next on Twitter(new window), Facebook(new window), Reddit(new window) or Instagram(new window).

Sign up and get a free encrypted email accounts from Proton Mail.

We also now provide a free VPN service(new window).

Proton Mail and Proton VPN are funded by community contributions. If you would like to support our development efforts, you can upgrade to a paid plan. Thank you for your support!

Protect your privacy with Proton
Create a free account

Share this page

Proton Team(new window)

We are scientists, engineers, and specialists from around the world drawn together by a shared vision of protecting freedom and privacy online. Proton was born out of a desire to build an internet that puts people before profits, and we're working to create a world where everyone is in control of their digital lives.

Related articles

Apple’s marketing team has built a powerful association between the iPhone and privacy. The company’s ad campaigns claim that “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” And, “Privacy. That’s iPhone.” But Apple’s lawyers are telling a diffe
A cyberattack on national public employment service France Travail has exposed the personal data of as many as 43 million people.  The latest breach is the second major cybersecurity attack to happen in France in the past month, raising concerns abo
If I share a folder in Google Drive, can anybody see my other folders
Google Drive makes it easy to share files and folders, but you may have wondered at some point whether the people you’ve shared a folder with can see your other folders. We answer this question below and also share some tips for truly secure link sha
In 2014, Proton Mail was introduced as a web app, revolutionizing how we think about email privacy. Today, we’re excited to broaden the horizons of secure communication by launching the Proton Mail desktop app. Anyone can now use the new Proton Mail
what is a digital footprint
What you do online isn’t private. Everything you do leaves behind some kind of mark. This trail is often referred to as a digital footprint, and it’s used to track you in many different ways. In this article, we go over what a digital footprint is, h
In February 2024, media reported that Indian authorities may decide to block Proton Mail. Proton Mail is still available in India despite any reports suggesting otherwise.  In response to hoax bomb threats that were sent through Proton Mail, some me