Kim Dotcom yesterday announced that the Mega storage service is now accepting payment via bitcoins, an encrypted, peer-to-peer digital currency that isn't backed by any government.

While Mega allows free access to 50GB of storage, there are payment plans allowing anywhere from 500GB to 4TB. The exchange rate for one bitcoin is equal to just under 20 euros. With Mega's membership fees beginning at €9.99 per month, that means bitcoin-paying users can get on board for a little more than half of one bitcoin. Bitcoin purchases can be made through BitVoucher, a reseller of Mega services:

There are also yearly memberships that, in Mega's words, let you "lock in the value of your bitcoin and save 17% over monthly vouchers." These cost about 5.44 bitcoins for a year of 500GB storage, 10.88 bitcoins for 2TB, and 16.32 bitcoins for 4TB. (We say "about" because they have already changed slightly at least once today.)

Bitcoin has begun to get some mainstream acceptance, with one exchange securing approval to operate as a bank under French law. But the Bitcoin currency has had its ups and downs. One major exchange shut down last year, and there have been several incidents of lost or stolen money. The value of bitcoins has fluctuated wildly.

Bitcoin touts its cryptographic method of providing security, though one analysis notes that Bitcoin "is not inherently anonymous."

Mega calls itself "The Privacy Company," a selling point given that Dotcom's previous service, Megaupload, was shut down by the feds a year ago because of alleged copyright infringement. Traditional, government-backed currency still rules the world, but Mega's decision to accept bitcoins may help it draw in some people who place more trust in the digital currency.

In an FAQ on Mega's Bitcoin payments, BitVoucher describes how transactions will be kept private.

"The Bitcoin payment system allows its users to make payments without revealing their identities or other personal information, unlike credit cards, Paypal and similar systems," BitVoucher says. "Both Bitvoucher and our payment processor, zipbit, believe that an excess of customer information is already collected through existing channels, and we like to consider ourselves a haven from the intrusive nature of most payment processors. ... We place a tracking I.D. in your browser (BVID located in the top left of your screen in blue) so we can identify you in the future; do not clear your browser data before completing your order and obtaining your Mega Voucher or you'll be unable to retrieve your Mega Voucher code."

Mega's Bitcoin prices relative to euros are based on "current market conditions," the FAQ states, indicating that euro prices will remain stable while bitcoin prices fluctuate based on changes in the exchange rate. One thing that doesn't seem to have been revealed is how Mega will turn bitcoins into traditional currency, or whether it would even plan to.