Five established VPNs, ranked for people who hold and move crypto: jurisdiction, audited no-logs policies, paying in crypto, kill switches — and what the renewal really costs.
Published · Prices checked October 2026
Disclosure: HoardAds earns a commission when you buy through some links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Commissions never buy a ranking — every pick below is justified on published evidence, and we say so where a provider falls short. Prices checked October 2026; VPN promotions rotate constantly, so confirm the live price at checkout.
Top pick: NordVPN. For a crypto user it is the most complete package on the evidence available in October 2026: a Panama jurisdiction outside the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, the most current independent no-logs audit in this group (Deloitte, December 2025 — its sixth), a checkout that still takes Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and other coins, and 10 simultaneous connections. Its weakness is price behaviour, not privacy: the cheap first term renews at $139.08/year, roughly triple the introductory rate.
Best for privacy purists: Proton VPN (Swiss jurisdiction, audit reports published in full, Bitcoin paid directly with no payment processor, and a genuinely usable free tier). Best budget pick: Surfshark (unlimited devices at $2.49/month on the two-year term — but it sits in the Netherlands, inside the Nine Eyes alliance). Cheapest long plan: CyberGhost ($2.19/month, 45-day money-back guarantee, only 7 devices). The odd one out: ExpressVPN — superbly audited and simple, but it has removed cryptocurrency payments, which matters to this audience.
Five criteria, weighted for people who hold and move crypto:
Why trust us / how this guide was made: We have not yet completed our own hands-on test cycle for these five services, and we won't pretend otherwise. This ranking is built from the providers' published specifications and pricing pages (checked through October 2026 trackers), the audit record (who audited, when, and whether reports are public), and the hands-on testing of established review outlets, all listed under Sources. When our own testing is done, this page will say so — and if the ranking changes, it will change here first.
| NordVPN | Surfshark | ExpressVPN | Proton VPN | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan (entry tier) | $14.99 | $16.45 | $14.99 | $9.99 | $12.99 |
| 2-year plan, per month | $3.49 (27 months, $94.23 upfront) | $2.49 (27 months, $67.23 upfront) | $2.99 (28 months, $83.72 upfront) | $3.49 (24 months, $83.76 upfront) | $2.19 (28 months, $56.84 upfront) |
| Renewal after first term | $139.08/year | $79/year | $99.95/year | $83.88/year | Standard annual rate |
| Jurisdiction | Panama | Netherlands | British Virgin Islands | Switzerland | Romania |
| No-logs audits | Yes — 6 audits; latest Deloitte (Dec 2025) | Yes — Deloitte (2023) | Yes — extensive; KPMG, Cure53, PwC among auditors | Yes — Securitum; reports public (latest Aug 2025) | Yes — Deloitte (2022, 2024, 2025) |
| Kill switch | Yes (app-level and system-level) | Yes | Yes ("Network Lock") | Yes (plus Secure Core multi-hop) | Yes (coverage varies by platform) |
| Pay with crypto | Yes — BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, Dash via CoinGate | Yes — BTC, BCH, ETH, USDT, LTC, XRP, DOGE, XMR via CoinGate/CoinPayments | No — crypto checkout removed | Bitcoin only, paid directly (no processor); also accepts cash | Yes — BTC, ETH, stablecoins and more via BitPay |
| Simultaneous connections | 10 | Unlimited | 10 | 10 | 7 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days (prorated) | 45 days on long plans |
NordVPN earns the top slot on the strength of its paper trail. It is based in Panama, which has no mandatory data-retention law and sits outside the Eyes alliances. Its no-logs policy has been audited six times, most recently by Deloitte in December 2025 — the freshest audit date in this comparison. For crypto users specifically, checkout accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin and Dash through CoinGate, so the subscription itself doesn't have to create another card record. The kill switch works at both the app and system level, and 10 simultaneous connections cover a phone, a laptop, a hardware-wallet workstation and a home router setup without juggling logins.
The honest caveat is renewal pricing. Basic at $3.49/month for the first 27 months renews at $139.08/year — about $11.59/month, a jump of more than 200%. Set a reminder before the term ends, or plan to re-buy a discounted term. Our full breakdown is in the NordVPN review.
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Proton is the only provider here that publishes its no-logs audit reports in full (Securitum; latest August 2025), is based in Switzerland, and open-sources its apps. Payment is the most private in the group: Bitcoin is accepted directly — no BitPay or CoinGate in the middle — and Proton even accepts cash by mail for account credit. Its Secure Core routes traffic through privacy-friendly countries before exit, and the free tier (unlimited data, one device, same no-logs policy) is a real product, not a trial. Trade-offs: Bitcoin is the only crypto accepted, the two-year price ($3.49/month) matches NordVPN rather than beating it, and the 30-day money-back guarantee is prorated. Its renewal, though, is the gentlest here: $83.88/year.
Visit Proton VPN Affiliate link
Surfshark is the value outlier: $2.49/month on the two-year Starter term ($67.23 for 27 months), renewing at a comparatively mild $79/year, with unlimited simultaneous connections — one subscription genuinely covers a whole household plus a trading desk. Its crypto checkout is the widest in this group (CoinGate and CoinPayments: BTC, BCH, ETH, TRX, USDT, LTC, XRP, DOGE, even XMR). Its no-logs policy was audited by Deloitte in 2023 — credible, but the oldest audit in this roundup. The structural caveat is jurisdiction: Surfshark is a Dutch company, and the Netherlands is a Nine Eyes member. If your threat model is mostly exchanges, trackers and public Wi-Fi, Surfshark is the rational buy. If your threat model includes state-level requests, pick Proton or NordVPN instead.
Visit Surfshark Affiliate link
CyberGhost undercuts everyone on the two-year term ($2.19/month, $56.84 for 28 months) and offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on long plans, the most generous here. It is based in Romania (EU member, but outside the Eyes alliances and with a strong anti-retention legal history), its no-logs policy has repeat Deloitte audits (2022, 2024, 2025), and BitPay checkout covers Bitcoin, Ethereum and major stablecoins. The limits: only 7 simultaneous connections, kill-switch coverage varies by platform (independent retests over the years have been mixed, though the most recent round passed), and its parent company, Kape Technologies, also owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access — a consolidation worth knowing about when you choose who to trust.
Visit CyberGhost Affiliate link
ExpressVPN would rank higher for a general audience. Its audit programme is the deepest in the industry (KPMG and Cure53 among its auditors; one tracker counts 27 independent audits), its RAM-only TrustedServer design means servers hold nothing to seize, and its no-logs claim survived a real-world test in 2017 when Turkish authorities seized a server and found no logs. It is based in the British Virgin Islands and its Network Lock kill switch is well regarded. But for this readership the deal-breaker is current and factual: ExpressVPN no longer accepts cryptocurrency payments — recent checks of its payment list show cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay only, and crypto-bought subscriptions no longer auto-renew. Many older "best VPN" lists still claim Bitcoin support; they are out of date. If you don't care about paying in crypto, ExpressVPN's Basic plan ($2.99/month on two years, 10 devices) is a strong, simple product. If you do care, it's a pass.
Visit ExpressVPN Affiliate link
A VPN hides your traffic and IP address from your network provider and from the sites you visit. It does not change the rules of the service you're using: if an exchange prohibits customers from your region, accessing it through a VPN can still breach its terms and put funds at risk. Use a VPN for privacy and security on networks you don't control — not as a licence to ignore a platform's terms.
Checked October 2026. Pricing and terms move fast; figures below reflect the checks noted.
Keep reading: our full NordVPN review, or browse the VPN & Privacy category.