What Is A Casa Bitcoin Node & Should You Get One?
Casa is one of the most interesting companies in the Bitcoin space. It offers a wide range of products and services, which include a Bitcoin and Lightning node.
Casa Bitcoin nodes come with a membership bundle that give users access to other services. The wide range of services that this company offers makes their membership especially tempting for users.
Casa Bitcoin Lightning Nodes come with Services
Separating a Casa node from the services that the company offers is not possible. This might not suit your needs, but users can enjoy certain advantages when there are hardware and services bundles in the market.
Another important feature to keep in mind is that Casa nodes are also Lightning nodes.
Casa Bitcoin Services
These are the basic services that come in tandem with a Casa Bitcoin node on a one-year membership:
- Keymaster for Android or iOS which includes multi signature – multisig – key security
- Dedicated 24/7 support
- Sats app to earn rewards
- Casa Bitcoin nodes come with part of the blockchain pre-loaded, which saves users time and data
Depending on the kind of membership you purchase, you will get better services, more perks and even more hardware.
Casa Gold Membership
The gold membership is Casa’s most basic Bitcoin node service. Users interested in it will pay $399 USD per year for the early bird special – the regular price is $34 USD per month. This membership plan gives users access to the following:
- A Casa Bitcoin node hardware
- The 2 of 3 multisig key security
- A hardware wallet – a Trezor One
- Casa Faraday Bag
- Direct email support from Casa
It is a good membership plan, considering that buying a Bitcoin or Lightning node from Casa’s main competitors is more expensive.
Casa Platinum Membership
Those gold memberships are limited though. Once Casa sells them all, prospective clients can only buy either the platinum or the diamond membership.
The platinum membership is an upgrade from the gold membership without a doubt. That upgrade does come at more than 4 times the monthly cost of the gold membership. Here is what the platinum membership offers for a $150 a month cost:
- The Casa Bitcoin node hardware
- Key Shield – a 3 of 5 multisig key set
- 3 Trezor hardware wallets
- Casa key recovery and emergency signing service
- Personal advisor with 1 on 1 sessions
- If anything happens to a device, replacements will be shipped over night
- Exclusive events and member benefits
Casa Diamond Membership
The Casa diamond membership takes that platinum membership a step further. For $420 USD a month this membership offers:
- 2 Casa bitcoin nodes
- The same 3 of 5 Key Shield that the platinum membership offers
- 3 Trezor hardware wallets
- Casa inheritance planning – also known as Casa Covenant
- The key recovery and emergency signing service
- Personal 1 on 1 sessions with an advisor
- Overnight shipment of replacement devices should the need arise
- Access to exclusive events and membership benefits
Casa Bitcoin Nodes
There is no doubt that the gold membership is the kind of service that the average Bitcoin user should be aiming for. To get it, you must make sure you buy it before it runs out.
The nodes come with any type of membership in any case. So, if you are not a power user or if you don’t need the additional services, you shouldn’t consider the platinum or the diamond memberships.
This doesn’t mean that the higher tier memberships are not worth it altogether. There are users out there that have quite a bit of Bitcoin in their hands, for instance, and they might need some kind of inheritance system.
The events and membership benefits are also great for users who own businesses and are looking for networking opportunities as well as other perks.
Casa Nodes: A Pioneer in the Stacking Sats Movement
Regardless of the membership type, the access to basic services is the same. Among the most useful services that any Casa member can have access to is the Sats App. This app allows you to earn points – stacking Sats – which you can redeem for Bitcoin, for doing the following:
- Connecting a Casa node to the app – this pays 20,000 Sats
- Enabling the weekly node heartbeats option
- Other rewards programs will be added to the SatsBack app
To redeem your points, you must accumulate 50,000 Sats first.
Should I Buy a Casa Bitcoin Node?
There is no doubt that the added services are Casa’s best asset and its worst liability. Their business model, in which the hardware and the services are sold in bundles, will inevitably split potential customers into 2 categories: those who just want the hardware and then want to do everything else themselves with minimal support from the manufacturer, and those who are looking for the value that the services add.
As a consequence, that will make them gravitate automatically towards Casa Bitcoin nodes. Whether you should buy a Bitcoin Casa node or not, depends on which group you belong to.
If you like the added value that Casa’s services provide, then these Bitcoin nodes are built for you. The only other aspect you should consider is the kind of membership plan you want to acquire.
Additional Information
Whether you buy a Casa Bitcoin node or not, you will be able to appreciate the quality of the team behind the product, the information they provide and the free membership option that you have access to even if you decide not buy a node.
Casa has a deep team of experts, including Jameson Lopp as the company’s CTO. There is no doubt that Casa has intricate knowledge of the space, and they are willing to share some of it for free. The silver membership is the perfect example.
Silver membership doesn’t come with a node, but it will give you access to some of Casa’s top-notch developments that Lopp and his team have developed, like the 2 of 3 multisig key security and access to the heartbeat app to check your cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Casa: An Interesting Company with an Innovative Business Model
There is no doubt that Casa delivers on high-quality, interesting products and services. The company has the talent necessary to develop them. It will be interesting to see what kind of reception those Casa Bitcoin nodes and the membership business model get in the market over the next few years.
Casa Bitcoin Node Update
Unfortunately, for the time being, Casa is not manufacturing more Bitcoin nodes. It sold the last one on October 2019 and decided to focus on other products.
Casa Covenant as well as multisig wallets and Bitcoin security are now Casa’s main focus.