ProtonMail is now the latest vendor to begin accepting Bitcoin payments; the company hopes that users will be able to upgrade their secure email accounts more privately with the help of Bitcoin. The new functionality comes as part of the 3.11 update which is rolling out to users around the world but is not immediately available for everyone just yet.
With ProtonMail 3.11, users will be able to pay for premium addons for their account using Bitcoin. ProtonMail’s system works seamlessly so that Bitcoin payments are automatically converted to ProtonMail credits which can be used to buy upgrades, pay invoices, or top up a ProtonMail account.
While the benefits are obvious for end users, the benefits for ProtonMail need explaining a little more; here’s how ProtonMail thinks Bitcoin payments will help:
“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 [a]cross multiple financial institutions as insurance, ProtonMail 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.”
Bitcoin support makes up the majority of news related to the 3.11 update. Some smaller additions and enhancements worth noting include an improved signup experience, a Spanish translation has been added to platform which will help millions of people switch over to the service, and lastly, the option to buy the Professional plan has been added to the sign up process.
Source: ProtonMail | Image via ProtonMail
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