10 Must-Have VPN Features in 2025 — & Why BelNet Checks Every Box
It’s 2025. People in the 1800s and 1900s thought we’d have flying cars by now.
Instead, our society has evolved to accept unhinged and unnecessary digital surveillance. These days, digital confidentiality is harder to come by than ever before.
With every click, search, and message, it feels like we’re under an electron microscope — every word, action, gaze, breath, and even our thoughts are being monitored.
Whether governments tightening censorship with asphyxiating laws, profit-driven corporations monetizing user data, or cybercriminals exploiting every possible weakness, data security and confidentiality is at an all-time low.
A few years ago, traditional, centralized VPN may have been enough. But today, it’s no longer sufficient. Surveillance systems are evolving (like the Pegasus for example) and tools that protect digital confidentiality must equally-evolve.
Most centralized VPNs still operate under a corporate umbrella, which means that their servers are in fixed locations. Thus, they are bound by the regulations and policies of the jurisdictions they operate in that force them to log, monitor, or even hand over user data when pressured. They’re useful — but not really unbreakable.
This is where decentralized VPNs (dVPNs) come to the rescue. By effectively removing the reliance on centralized servers and replacing them with democratic and decentralized community-powered networks, dVPNs offer a new level of confidentiality and resilience.
Among them is BelNet — the decentralized VPN built over the Beldex blockchain. It doesn’t just tick the boxes of what a modern VPN should be; it sets the bar high for what online confidentiality can look like in 2025.
Let’s walk through the 10 must-have VPN features today and see why BelNet checks every box.
1. Strong Confidentiality
At its core, a VPN’s job is to keep your activity private.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: many centralized VPNs keep logs.
Even when they claim not to, they’re often operating under jurisdictions that legally require them to store user data. These logs may include your raw data or metadata, which can later be requested by authorities or even stolen by hackers.
BelNet takes an entirely different approach. Instead of relying on a handful of company-controlled servers, it routes your traffic through a global network of community-powered masternodes. This means:
- No single entity has the ability to log your activity. Your browsing history and digital footprint will always remain confidential.
- Your data isn’t sitting in centralized storage waiting to be exploited. It is encrypted and relayed through the network of decentralized nodes.
- Traffic paths are randomized, making it nearly impossible to trace you. Predicting the path is virtually impossible.
BelNet transforms your internet browsing into anonymized, untraceable flows of communication, giving you what a centralized VPN simply cannot: confidence that your data never falls into the wrong hands.
2. High-Speed Performance
VPNs are notorious for slowing down internet connections.
Encryption overhead, overloaded servers, peak usage, and poor routing all add up to a frustrating experience. In fact, this is one of the main reasons many people turn their VPNs off, sacrificing privacy for speed.
BelNet fixes this problem by ensuring that its relays and exit nodes meet the minimum required criteria to allow seamless and smooth flow of traffic.
Contributors need to meet the required bandwidth, processor, and location criteria to be eligible to set up an exit node on BelNet.
They can also set up their own custom exit node(s) and add it to BelNet. A dedicated server that handles only your traffic, no one else’s. Learn more about setting up your custom exit node here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-set-up-custom-belnet-exit-node-beldex-coin/.
The result? You get security without the slowdown. With BelNet, speed and security can coexist, making it usable for everyday browsing, and not just emergencies.
3. Global Servers/Node Coverage
A VPN is only as good as its coverage.
Traditional VPNs rely on centralized servers, often clustered in popular regions like the first world countries. This makes them easier to block in countries where their nodes are sparsely distributed.
IP addresses allocated by the IANA to VPN companies are shared with the regulators (upon request). Countries can cut off access simply by blacklisting those server’s IP addresses.
But,
- BelNet’s decentralized architecture is configured to circumvent such blacklists. Instead of centralized servers, it relies on thousands of distributed masternodes worldwide.
- Each node acts as a gateway, and because they’re spread out and run by individuals (Beldex community members) rather than corporations, censorship becomes far more difficult.
- If one node is blocked, another is available. If one country censors internet traffic, BelNet routes around it.
- With BelNet’s global node coverage, you don’t just get access — you get censorship resistance by design.
4. Streaming/Content Access
For many people, VPNs are synonymous with unlocking streaming services or bypassing firewalls.
But centralized VPN IPs are often blacklisted by services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Cloudflare or even local ISPs. Especially if those IP addresses are shared by many users.
BelNet’s masternode relays give users a different edge. Since they’re community-run and constantly changing the routing path, they don’t follow predictable patterns that these platforms can easily blacklist.
Besides, a custom exit node offers a dedicated VPN IP with which you can easily circumvent such blocks.
This means you can:
- Access geo-restricted content without interruptions.
- Overcome firewalls and VPN filters and gain censorship-free access.
- Enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be — open and unrestricted.
With BelNet, streaming isn’t just possible. It’s smoother, more reliable, and censorship-proof.
5. Transparent Security Architecture
“Military-grade encryption” sounds familiar right? It’s the marketing line used by almost every other VPN provider. But what does it really mean?
For most, not much. They don’t publish details about their infrastructure, nor do they allow public audits.
BelNet takes the opposite route. Built on the Beldex blockchain, its entire security architecture is open, verifiable, and transparent.
- Every interaction is cryptographically secured.
- The open-source code and network design are auditable by the public.
- Users don’t have to rely on vague promises — they can see how it works.
When it comes to security, trust is everything. BelNet doesn’t ask for your blind trust; it earns it through transparency.
6. Split Tunneling
Split tunneling is a technique by which VPNs split sensitive and non-sensitive traffic to overcome speed-related bottlenecks.
While the BelNet dVPN is entirely capable of seamless browsing and streaming, some internet traffic just doesn’t need BelNet’s multi-hop routing and layer by layer encryption.
BelNet’s split tunneling feature is implemented at the application level so users can:
- Decide exactly which apps are routed through the VPN tunnel and which connect directly to the internet.
- Non-sensitive traffic moves freely without draining speed or bandwidth while sensitive traffic is cryptographically encrypted.
Enabling users to prioritize speed and data confidentiality at the application level makes BelNet’s split tunneling one of the most user-friendly in the VPN space.
7. Affordable & Fair Pricing
The VPN industry is infamous for hidden costs and predatory pricing. Long-term subscriptions, “discounts” that disappear after renewal, or appear after renewal, and bundled services you don’t need all make VPN subscriptions unnecessarily expensive.
BelNet is refreshingly different. It is completely FREE of cost. Wait, really? Is there a catch?
No.
It really is free of cost, open-source, transparent, and does not collect data. BelNet is supported by the Beldex ecosystem and does not require a revenue model at the moment.
However, should a subscription plan be implemented in the future, it will use the $BDX token for payments, which will make pricing:
- Transparent. There will be no hidden costs. Browsing will still be free.
- Fair. There will be no inflated subscriptions. That is how we design all our pricing. For reference, you can check the BNS pricing model, flexible and affordable.
- Accessible. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can use it without worrying about regional payment barriers.
BelNet democratizes internet confidentiality by making it affordable and fair for all users.
8. Ease of Use & Cross-Platform Support
A VPN is only valuable if people actually use it.
Many existing dVPNs are complicated to set up, with clunky and confusing interfaces and steep learning curves.
BelNet, on the other hand, is designed with simplicity in mind. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or just someone who wants to protect their data:
- BelNet’s design is sleek and simple.
- Setting up a custom exit node is easy and fast.
- It works seamlessly across PC, Android, and (soon) on iOS.
- A clean, minimal interface means you’re protected in just a few clicks.
This ease of use lowers the barrier to adoption, making confidentiality accessible to everyone.
9. AI-Enhanced Security
Cyber threats don’t stand still — and neither should VPNs. In 2025, attackers are using AI to launch more sophisticated attacks, from deep packet inspection (DPI) to advanced censorship filters.
BelNet stays ahead with AI-enhanced security*. Its AI models:
- Detecting anomalies in traffic patterns.
- Resisting DPI attacks from ISPs or governments.
- Identifying and blocking suspicious activities in real time.
This isn’t just about keeping up with threats. It’s about staying one step ahead of everyone. With AI-enhanced security*, BelNet is future-proofed against evolving cyber dangers.
*BeldexAI for BelNet is under active research and development, expected to roll out soon.
10. Community-Run Exit Servers
Finally, one of BelNet’s strongest differentiators: its community-run exit nodes. Instead of relying on servers owned by a corporation, BelNet empowers individuals to host and run nodes.
This means:
- The network is truly decentralized.
- Control is distributed across a global community.
- Users benefit from resilience, redundancy, and diversity in node operators.
BelNet’s strength lies not just in technology but in the community that powers it.
At the moment, there are 20 exit nodes, 3 of which are run by the Beldex foundation and the remaining 17, by community contributors.
You too can run an exit node.
Learn how: https://beldexcoin.medium.com/exit-node-selection-criteria-new-reward-plan-d24228db968d
Conclusion
The VPN landscape in 2025 demands far more than just encryption. Users need speed, transparency, decentralization, resilience, and AI-driven security against censorship. They need tools that don’t just hide their activity but actively resist surveillance and exploitation.
BelNet delivers all of this and more. By combining strong confidentiality, global node coverage, affordable access, AI-driven security, and community participation, BelNet redefines what it means to browse the internet freely.
With BelNet, you’re not just masking your data.
You’re reclaiming your right to digital freedom.
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