How to Buy Hosting with Bitcoin (+ Get a Free Domain)
One reason put forward to explain why the great Bitcoin crash of 2017/18 didn’t ravage on is that it ran out of sellers.
In the end, the vulnerable succumbed and those who were resistant grew into stronger Bitcoin HODLers.
Meanwhile the Bitcoin blockchain remained unparalleled, plugging away and running for the past 10 years ceaselessly. Even banks and payment processors shut down intermittently, but not Bitcoin.
If you learn how to secure your Bitcoin like I taught you, you will essentially own your personal Swiss vault.
Bitcoin itself is tremendously resilient & robust because of its decentralized network architecture.
Highly acclaimed security specialists like Dan Kaminsky tried to hack Bitcoin but ultimately failed.
Here’s the significance of Dan trying to hack Bitcoin, imagine winning the Powerball nine times in a row.
Your odds of striking it not once, not twice, not thrice but nine times gets infinitely worse.
On the flip side, hackers can easily upload malware to bank systems that allows them to edit your account at will, giving them unbridled access to all your money.
For many, Bitcoin remains something of an enigma.
The majority of people got carried away with the emotion of making money from buying and selling Bitcoin.
But when it comes to storing your hard-earned wealth, doesn’t it make more sense keeping the bulk of it in something scarce rather than abundant?
Bitcoin has a finite monetary supply of 21 million.
Governments on the other hand have grown accustomed to depreciating their currency at will.
Inflation gives them a monopoly over redistributing wealth.
Why do you think governments all over the world are furiously buying up billions of dollars worth of gold while they continue printing money out of thin air without your consent.
One dollar bills cost just 4.9 cents per note to print, while $20 and $50 bills cost only 10.5 cents. What’s more ridiculous is that it cost just 12.3 cents to print a $100 dollar bill.
So the bigger the value of the note, the cheaper the proportional cost to print.
Don’t let all the elements of greed that drove Bitcoin to over $19,200 in 2017 and consequently to a free-fall in its price trick you into believing that short-term $ price is all Bitcoin’s about.
It’s much more than that. (1 btc = 1 btc now, 10, 20, 50 or even 100 years from now.)
Bitcoin is like a ruler.
Whereas Fiat supply keeps growing, so measuring in $’s is meaningless. Can’t measure things with a ruler that keeps changing. (I predict the next Trillionaire to emerge within a decade)
Imagine a steel ruler (that’s Bitcoin), compared with a ruler made of rubber (fiat). Which one will give you more accurate measurements?
To understand the great transformation that lies ahead for the internet of money, you must transcend conventional thinking and conventional information sources.
Most of that information is Freely available right here.
It’s up to you to step ahead of the crowd.
Further Read: Bitcoin vs. PayPal & Banking – Why One is Dying a Slow Death
Why Pay with Bitcoin?
When I decided, against my better judgement, to pay my hosting with bitcoin, the plan was met by a heavy skepticism and cynicism internally and externally.
Will I be able to purchase a hosting successfully?
Would anyone accept my Bitcoins?
Do I really want to spend my scarce Bitcoin?
But Bitcoin is so god-damn slow!
I had “really” thought about it and it seemed not only sensible but a necessary experiment.
Satoshi Nakamoto calls Bitcoin an Electronic Peer-to-peer Cash System but few had actually used it as an actual payment medium. And there’s a reason for this.
Bitcoin has only been able to process about 7 transactions per second (tps). Compared to VISA’s 50,000 tps, the bitcoin network would be highly congested before it even begun scratching the surface of mass adoption.
Transactions will be met with long queue lines and extortionate fees like the ones we saw in late December 2017.
For years, Bitcoin developers came up with various proposals on improving Bitcoin’s architecture. Some were audacious, others were just plain silly.
With Bitcoin, an idea cannot be implemented without reaching consensus. Without being too technical, it is this consensus that ensures the fundamental integrity of governance in money (btc) is mutually assured.
That is also the major reason why there are currently several Bitcoin-like blockchains that have diverged from the original one.
Each camp of developers positing their own suggestions as the way to go forward for bitcoin. And as a result of this disagreement, they ultimately breakaway.
For me though, there is only one proposed solution that makes sense for Bitcoin to scale. And that is known as the Lightning Network, a second layer on top of Bitcoin’s core blockchain that enables users to transact micro payments from your coffee to a Big Mac.
I believe that the Lightning Network provides the solution to the never-ending debate that Bitcoin is useless for buying my cup of coffee.
How Fast is the Lightning Network (LN)?
With Lightning, Bitcoin may be able to technically handle up to 1 million tps which far exceeds the likes of even VISA.
Bitcoin is the most secure system on the planet, but in order to ensure it stays that way far into the future, Nakamoto had to make a tough architectural decision from the get-go (a trade-off).
He had to inhibit the performance & scalability of bitcoin for something more valuable and rare when it comes to the governance of money. Social Scalability.
Social scalability is a concept articulated by Nick Szabo, a pioneer in computer science, who is one of the precursors to Bitcoin (Bit Gold) and the first to coin the term “Smart Contract”.
In an article titled “Money, blockchains and Social Scalability”, Szabo calls Bitcoin “highly quixotic” and he adds that, “…Bitcoin offends the sensibilities of the resource-conscious and performance-measure-maximizing engineers and businessmen alike…”
The reason for this is simple…
Each Bitcoin computer sprays the internet with large amounts of redundant information about Bitcoin transactions all across the globe to over ten thousand locations.
This ensures that the correct message is digitally and cryptographically engraved accurately so that no-one can tamper with it. (Even Nakamoto himself)
As a result, Bitcoin cannot process as many transactions as a VISA or Mastercard.
Logic dictates that If you’re attempting to secure a decentralized network with high value transactions (like Gold), you have to be rigid in your parameters.
Being too flexible and rich with features opens you up to all sorts of vulnerabilities and potential hacks.
Even transporting Gold today from one vault to another across the country or internationally isn’t an easy decision. It could cost you in upwards of 25% tax/fees in security and legal restrictions.
Gold may have an established history, but Bitcoin is far more scarce and portable than this yellow precious metal.
A few months ago, Binance a cryptocurrency exchange moved its bitcoin worth $600 Million dollars for just a $8 fee. Try moving that amount worth in Gold. Most likely, the title to the gold is the only thing that gets transferred, not the physical bullion itself.
Binance just moved half a billion dollars for a fee of 0.00001%. Bitcoin is still magical.https://t.co/RUgZRaUrvs
— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) November 18, 2018
In any other transfer, they would have had to pay $18 Million in fees @3% to move.
Now, sovereign countries today are already facing an uphill task in repatriating their own gold. It’s a problem they’re going to have to reanalyze.
Venezuela for example, have been denied access to repatriate their gold from the Bank of England.
Similarly, Australia have been disallowed from carrying out any proper audits on their bullion holdings.
This is sovereign gold of another nation which is placed into custody storage by a foreign central bank. They have zero autonomy on their own assets.
Fees charged using the Bitcoin network are based upon the amount of computer resources needed to store data. And that transaction of $600 million was just 1550 bytes.
Now, the network capacity also affects the fees, so earlier in December 2017 because of the sudden spike in interest, people were paying an average fee of $28.
Others complain that they had to pay a fee of $16 to send just $25 worth of Bitcoin.
Whatever the fees future participants will have to pay, it’s all about understanding what Bitcoin is.
Bitcoin is like a container ship of value transfer and storage. It’s monetary policy is fixed at 21 million BTC. So it doesn’t really make sense recording every cup of coffee I buy with Bitcoin on a network as valuable as the Bitcoin blockchain.
Inflation is built into the fiat monetary system. Whereas Bitcoin is deflationary and scarcity will only increase its value over time.
2/ A monetary system is always built in layers, and Bitcoin is meant to be the base most layer, where the most trust in settlement is required.
The Lightning Network, built atop Bitcoin, is like the last-mile delivery service that gets that small package to someone’s doorstep. pic.twitter.com/OCk8xrxzxA
— Vijay Boyapati (@real_vijay) November 1, 2018
With the Lightning Network, we now don’t have to keep a record of every single micro-transaction without congesting the Bitcoin network.
Instead, two participants can create a payment channel that enables instant payments at low-to-nonexistent fees.
I’m talking about fees at 1 Satoshi per transaction (0.00000001 btc). That’s 1/100 of a cent.
Once the channel is open, users can perform limitless transactions between parties. It redistributes the funds stored in two or more wallets until any user decides to stop transacting with the other.
So when the participants decide that they want to settle all the balances and close the channel, the final balances are now recorded onto the Bitcoin blockchain.
To put it simply, the Lightning Network is generating IOUs between participants and technically no one actually transfers real BTC within the channel while its open. Of course, you will first need to hold and deposit BTC inside your wallet.
Eventually when the last IOU is settled, the channel would then close. After that, the final balances are broadcasted to the Bitcoin blockchain accordingly.
However, since the level of security employed over the Lightning Network channel is far less than it would to transact via the bitcoin blockchain, it comes recommended that you only use it for transactions that doesn’t exceed ~$500.
This feature is quite similar to VISA’s PayWave feature that also imposes a maximum limit to which you can transact.
If you’re transacting huge funds, do it the old fashion way by sending BTC from your wallet to the counterparty.
Finding a Hosting Provider that Accepts Bitcoin
Day 1, I set out to find a hosting provider that will accept my bitcoin.
My experiment of finding and paying a hosting provider with my Bitcoin will likely prove to me that the most ardent skeptics calling Bitcoin a scam is hazy at best.
A day or two in searching for a hosting company that would do just that will break this expectation that Bitcoin wasn’t really the sought after digital cash, as it is being called out by many journalists and ‘experts’.
But boy, was I dead wrong.
I anticipated great merchant adoption in the hosting space with a wide variety of services through which I can use my bitcoin.
I thought I was walking into a more vibrant Bitcoin scene with more ways I could spend my bitcoin.
Instead, I found that fewer hosting companies take bitcoin now than they did when it was at the peak of its hype cycle. It was a bit of an uphill task sorting the ones that have a reliable track record.
Then finally, I came across a company with a vision to empower millions of web developers around the world.
Enter Hostinger, a hosting provider that leads the front-line of Bitcoin merchant adoption.
“There are millions of young web developers and people with great ideas around the world, but they do not have a bank account due to their age or other restrictions. The last thing we want is for a talent with a great idea for the Internet to give up on it just because they do not have the chance to pay for the tools that will make it happen.”
Unlike credit cards which require users to have a bank account with monthly salary requirements, with Bitcoin, there is none of this. The middleman is taken out of the equation when you make a transaction from point A to point B.
Therefore, all the extra transaction fees are eliminated simply because banks and payment processors are no longer required.
Should I Learn to Pay with Bitcoin?
Well, as a matter of fact, you should. Right now is a golden window of opportunity for you to learn and understand how it all works.
Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter expects Bitcoin to become the world’s ‘single currency‘ of the internet in the near future.
This is excellent @tippin_me ⚡️ https://t.co/FifrgwBOTp
— jack (@jack) February 20, 2019
You can see him involved with Bitcoin through his tweets, interviews and shout-outs.
In fact, a Lightning Network service called Tippin.me was downloaded over 13,000 times ever since Dorsey gave them a very public endorsement.
He is also involved in Twitter trends such as #stackingsats which sees participants posting tweets about their BTC purchases via the CashApp.
The CashApp sold over $166 million worth of Bitcoin in 2018 even though many experts believe it to be the worst of bear markets.
Stacking Satoshis is a new movement on Twitter to imply how cheap it is that one can buy bitcoin today. This is of course in reference to Bitcoin’s smallest unit known as “Satoshis” (Sats).
Today, you can buy 262 Sats (0.00000262 BTC) for one U.S. penny, 26,200 Sats for a dollar and 2,262,000 Sats for a hundred U.S Dollar.
Despite all the hype being deflated since 2017, it is still a very young industry. Each hype cycle brings in more and more individuals who realizes the extreme (and very real) scarcity of BTC and the importance of that feature in a world rife with uncontrolled inflation, greed, manipulation, corruption and fraud.
Not only that, Bitcoin working in conjunction with LN is capable of giving us low to non-existent fees and instantaneous cross-border payments.
| A. Whether you’re in Tanzania, Indonesia or even Columbia, it doesn’t matter, you can send BTC from anywhere in the world & it will be processed instantly as all transactions are blessed with color-blind anonymity. |
| B. Avoid costly currency conversions. When you make a payment in your national currency on the World Wide Web, your local fiat currency gets converted into the local currency of the merchant. |
| C. Payment processors charge merchants 3% or higher for every credit card transaction, and that cost is passed down to you, the consumer. With LN, you pay fees at less than fractions of a cent 1/100 cent. |
| D. While charge-backs seem like a good feature for consumers, merchants often lose money from fraudulent card purchases. Even as a consumer, merchants can often reverse a sale and cancel your booking on an email notice (My experience w/ Agoda recently cost me thousands of dollars more from a last minute hotel cancellation, on the grounds that the offer I received was too good to be true) |
| E. There will be a future potential of highly loyal customers who will look for places to spend their Bitcoin in the near future once mass adoption kicks in. First movers will get to embrace this new base of potential customers. |
| F. A new marketing opportunity would present itself to merchants, thereby attracting special offers, discounts and deals for those who pay in Bitcoin instead of fiat currencies. |
| G. Your Privacy is assured as transactions you make don’t get sold to the highest bidder or stolen from the weak security the merchant uses. Your government and banks have no business prying into your private lives. |
| H. You will gain the first movers advantage of being a pioneer in the cryptocurrency economy. Bitcoin’s scarcity and utility will prove to be an even better value proposition than Gold to a growing population of Digital Citizens. |
To make the process smoother:
Register & fund your Binance account with Bitcoin first. You can purchase BTC on Binance with a credit card.
To avoid any hassle the first time round, you can use your credit card just to quickly own some BTC on Binance. For larger sums, you can always use a cryptocurrency exchange that provides Bank transfers.
How to Pay for Hosting using Bitcoin (BTC)?
Step 1: Go To Hostinger.com
On the main page, click on the “Get Started NOW” button or scroll down to select your web hosting plan,
29 million clients in 178 countries is quite an impressive feat considering the fact that they started entirely out of a freemium model back in 2007.
Now you get to choose between three highly affordable plans.
But in order to Get a Free Domain included within your hosting package, select the Premium or Business web hosting.
In order to save cost on the monthly plan, you can select a longer duration of up to 48 months to enjoy discounts of up to 82%.
Step 2: Search for your Free Domain
Type in your unique domain name that you would like to build your blog or website. Search to check whether your domain is available. If its available, you can proceed with the checkout.
That is the green padlock that your browser shows denoted by https:// when accessing your site. Nowadays, this is a MUST for SEO!
Step 3: Select Payment Method
As denoted by the Bitcoin logo, click on the option to proceed.
Paying via bitcoin doesn’t allow you any charge-backs like a credit card.
However, you’re given a Risk-Free Guarantee for 30 Days. If you are not at all satisfied, you can let them know via their 24/7 support. https://www.hostinger.com/contacts
Step 4: Choose Bitcoin (BTC)
When you’re paying in Bitcoin, you’re not paying the listed price denominated in BTC, you’re paying the equivalent dollar of the current exchange rate for BTC.
Step 5: Complete Checkout
Fill in your email, name and click the checkout button, now you will be redirected to CoinPayments a cryptocurrency payment gateway, where they’ll display Hostinger’s bitcoin address & your payment ID.
Copy and paste the important details or if you can, screenshot the page and leave it open.
You are given approx. 6 hours to transfer your payment.
All the information you need is available via the “What to do next?” tab.
Select and a drop-down will appear displaying all the information and status of your transaction.
Step 6: Fund & Send Bitcoins to Hostinger
To pay using your Binance account, you will need to register and fund it with BTC first, in order make a payment to Hostinger. Now you can buy bitcoin (BTC) with your credit card on Binance.
If you’re using Changelly, you can purchase Bitcoin right now with your credit card and send it immediately to Hostinger’s Bitcoin address.
Once you own some bitcoins, access ‘Funds‘ at the top right hand corner of your screen.
Withdrawals > Select /search BTC > Copy “Hostinger’s Bitcoin Address” > Paste into Withdrawal address field. > Submit
You’re given a 2 BTC withdrawal limit a day and a 0.002 BTC minimum withdrawal.
Wait for the confirmation email from Hostinger or check the status of your payment on the CoinPayments page.
At the end of my experiment, I got a real sense of satisfaction using and spending my Bitcoin.
Imagine the day where everyone earns, stores and spends bitcoin. We would essentially kill off inflation and eliminate the rent-seekers siphoning off with our hard-earned savings.
For those (and they’re out there) living unbanked or under the duress of a faltering monetary system, this experiment never ends — it’s a struggle they reckon with daily.
Bitcoin is an Ironclad monetary policy of the people.
One unlike any government using currency as a weapon to enrich themselves and control the people.
With Bitcoin, we are being reintroduced the concept of Hard Money.
This is as close as we can get back to the Gold Standard in the digital age.
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