Using Bitcoin To Establish VPN Connections Without Trusted Third Parties

A Bitcoin VPN allows 2 oregon much parties to observe each different and beryllium capable to pass privately implicit the nationalist net without trust.

This is an sentiment editorial by Moustafa Amin, a exertion person with much than 20 years of nonrecreational acquisition crossed ample organizations, work providers and telephone companies.

Bitcoin is undoubtedly the world’s newest signifier of money. Governed by nary cardinal authorization and controlled by nary one, it represents the fiscal rescue that the satellite is looking for. In my opinion, Bitcoin state tin beryllium extended to flight eavesdroppers that enactment relentlessly time and nighttime to intercept, show oregon adjacent power our online activities.

Traditional VPN

Today, if 2 endpoints privation to speech privately to each other, they typically request to bash truthful via a trusted, third-party intermediary. As an example, see what happens if immoderate 2 endpoints privation to acceptable up a virtual backstage web (VPN) passageway betwixt themselves to transportation connected a backstage speech implicit the nationalist internet. They request to archetypal beryllium capable to find retired astir each other. This is the find part.

If the 2 endpoints tin someway find each other, they whitethorn inactive not beryllium capable to straight pass — for example, if they person backstage IP addresses oregon are hidden down broadband routers oregon gateways. This is the information connection part.

Additionally, if much than 1 instrumentality wishes to stock the aforesaid VPN transmission to speech to each other, past further accusation needs to beryllium exchanged betwixt each VPN points.

The archetypal 2 parts of this process entail utilizing a 3rd enactment to facilitate find and communication. For example, the 2 endpoints request to bargain a work from a VPN work supplier and specify that they privation to communicate. The work supplier serves arsenic a trusted intermediary to the 2 parties.

(Graphic/Moustafa Amin)

Challenges

This 3rd enactment not lone needs to beryllium trusted, but besides indispensable beryllium reliable. If it is compromised, past the privateness is gone. It besides needs to beryllium ever online. If this 3rd enactment was to spell retired of business, the 2 endpoints cannot pass with each other.

One pressing contented that is contiguous successful this centralized VPN exemplary is the request to propagate a shared cardinal to the communicating entities that they usage to encrypt and decrypt the postulation betwixt them. This cardinal speech usually happens implicit a abstracted transmission — an out-of-band transmission (think: email, phone, substance message, etc). This seemingly lacks the desired privacy-prohibiting eavesdropping oregon unlawful interception of the shared key.

Also, it is not uncommon successful immoderate countries to restrict known VPN ports. It happened to maine erstwhile I opted successful for an yearly subscription for a well-known VPN service. I recovered that my VPN lawsuit couldn’t link to immoderate VPN server worldwide. I opened a lawsuit with the supplier and fortunately, they understood the concern and refunded my money.

Moreover, immoderate banks oregon different accepted fiscal systems (credit cards oregon outgo processors) tin contradict oregon restrict payments if 1 attempts to subscribe to known planetary VPN services.

Now, the question becomes: How bash we let 2 oregon much entities to pass among themselves without the usage of third-party intermediaries, frankincense avoiding each these issues? To reply this, I americium gladsome to present Bitcoin VPN.

What Is Bitcoin VPN And How Does It Work?

Bitcoin VPN is simply a solution that leverages the Bitcoin web (Layer 1) oregon the Lightning Network (Layer 2) to let 2 oregon much parties to observe each different and beryllium capable to pass privately implicit the nationalist internet.

As with accepted VPN, a Bitcoin VPN lawsuit needs to entree the web portal of their desired VPN service. This lawsuit could beryllium a telecommuter that needs to beryllium connected and entree their firm headquarters, oregon a mean VPN idiosyncratic who wants to entree the net from different determination to bypass immoderate contented regularisation for example.

When they opt for the VPN service, the lawsuit volition beryllium presented with a Lightning invoice oregon simply a wallet code on with an equivalent transaction magnitude that needs to beryllium sent. In the lawsuit of a telecommuter, the transaction magnitude should beryllium minimal (no endeavor would measure their employees to link to their network). For a regular VPN service, the transaction could beryllium an hourly bill.

In each cases, the lawsuit sends the transaction to the presented Bitcoin address.

Once received, the VPN server responds by sending backmost to the lawsuit a transaction and passes the server nationalist cardinal arsenic a wide substance embedded successful the transaction metadata.

As everything is publically stored connected the Bitcoin ledger and to debar immoderate imaginable eavesdropping, the lawsuit encrypts the pursuing information utilizing the received server nationalist key:

• Client nationalist IP address.
• Client nationalist key.
• Other options that would beryllium needed for the VPN transportation (port number, etc.).

The lawsuit sends different transaction to the server, embedding the encrypted connection from the erstwhile measurement successful the transaction metadata.

The server decrypts the encrypted connection utilizing its backstage key.

Equipped with each required accusation for the VPN, the server past establishes the required VPN passageway to the lawsuit (public IP address: larboard number) and pairs by utilizing the lawsuit nationalist cardinal for the VPN encryption. Note however this differs from a accepted VPN wherever the lawsuit is usually the initiator of the tunnel.

Three-way handshake and VPN passageway constitution (Graphic/Moustafa Amin)

For anyone who would reason that the aforesaid could beryllium achieved with different cryptocurrencies, my extremity with Bitcoin VPN is to debar the centralized quality and consequent challenges of accepted VPNs by leveraging the existent and astir decentralized ledger retired determination (Bitcoin). Just enactment speech your tendency to power and/or marque wealth by uselessly injecting your inferior altcoin of prime successful the conversation.

Finally, it is evident that Bitcoin, with its unsocial decentralized architecture, offers unlimited opportunities different than its evident fiscal capabilities.

This is simply a impermanent station by Moustafa Amin. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc. oregon Bitcoin Magazine.