Onchain investigator ZachXBT publicly corrected Ethereum's official X account on July 4, noting that privacy company Proton accepts only bitcoin — not ether — for its subscriptions. The callout lands as the Ethereum Foundation pushes payments adoption and courts privacy-focused users.
Onchain investigator ZachXBT corrected Ethereum's official X account on July 4, pointing out that privacy company Proton accepts only bitcoin, not ether, as a crypto payment option for its subscriptions. Replying to a post from the account, he wrote on X: "Proton does not currently accept Ethereum as payment option for subscriptions only Bitcoin."
The pseudonymous investigator, known for tracing stolen funds and exposing fraud across the industry, attached a screenshot and left it there — a blunt fact-check delivered to an account with millions of followers. ZachXBT has built that reputation through recent work, including an investigation that alleged 95% of the LAB token's supply was insider-controlled and a warning that Humanity Protocol's $32 million hack was possibly staged.
What Proton Actually Accepts
Proton's own support documentation backs the investigator up. The Swiss company, best known for its encrypted Proton Mail service and VPN, states that users can pay for any Proton subscription with bitcoin where crypto is concerned. The process is manual: select bitcoin at checkout, scan a QR code or copy a BTC address, and wait for network confirmations that can take up to 24 hours.
Automatic renewal is not available for bitcoin payers, so Proton advises sending payment at least 24 hours before a bill comes due. The alignment runs deeper than checkout options — in 2024, Proton launched a self-custodial bitcoin wallet on the web, iOS and Android, built around BTC exclusively, with no support for ether or ERC-20 tokens.
An Awkward Moment for Ethereum's Payments Push
The jab lands at a sensitive time for Ethereum. Its parent entity has seen a mass exodus of talent over the past quarter. The Ethereum Foundation published a formal privacy commitment late last year and has since narrowed its priorities to what it calls CROPS — censorship resistance, capture resistance, openness, privacy and security. Payments adoption features prominently in the foundation's 2026 execution plans, and the network's marketing has increasingly courted privacy-focused users.
That is why the correction stings. Proton ranks among the most recognizable privacy-technology brands, with services spanning email, cloud storage, passwords and VPN — and when it takes crypto, it takes bitcoin. An Ethereum marketing push that name-checks the privacy economy invites the obvious rejoinder that the sector's flagship brand routes its money over the rival chain.
Source: Bitcoin News
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