Kim Dotcom has announced via his twitter that in the future, Mega, the file locker website launched on the anniversary of the original Megaupload shutdown, will support not only cloud backup services, but encrypted email, chat, as well as voice and video communications. On top of that, this weekend he also announced that Mega premier accounts could now be bought using Bitcoins.

Don't get too excited about a replacement for Hushmail just yet though, as it will be in the coming “years,” that these features will be added, according to Dotcom.

In the coming years #Mega plans to expand from secure cloud storage to secure email, chat & voice, video and "mobile".

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) February 16, 2013

Dotcom has been pushing the idea of internet privacy for a while now, suggesting that with Mega leading the way, encryption and a return to personal privacy online could be the wave of the future. This is somewhat of a counter-culture to the one pushed by other media giants like Facebook, which have seen to remove much of the online world's anonymity.

Believe me: Privacy is the next big thing on the Internet. And #Mega is all about privacy. We are "The Privacy Company".

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) February 16, 2013

While we'll be waiting a while for all of Mega's planned feature set, we can now pay for premier accounts on the site via Bitcoin, the internet's own anonymous currency. While this doesn't open up much in the way of functionality for the average user, as almost all other payment providers are simpler to use than Bitcoin, it does offer an alternative to traditional means and for anyone wishing for full anonymity, Bitcoin certainly allows for an extra layer of protection.

#Mega now accepts #BITCOIN via our newest reseller Bitvoucher: https://t.co/fnK725aZ

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) February 16, 2013

The Megaupload founder also took a second out of his weekend to bash rival service, Dropbox, which Mega quickly eclipsed in its early release traffic. Since then it has fallen back, leaving Dropbox the far larger of the two sites, but it didn't stop Dotcom pointing out the mere weeks it took his site to generate massive user numbers.

After Dropbox launched it took them 2 years to reach 3 million registered users (source: http://t.co/oztprR2A) It took #Mega 4 weeks.

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) February 16, 2013

KitGuru Says: While I'm no Dotcom fanboy, I have to agree with him on the issue of privacy online. I'd like to see a bit more public awareness for their information online. What about you lot?

Become a Patron!