Depending on the company you choose, you might pay a monthly fee, or you might pay according to the hash rate. See our tutorial on paper wallets here. And work is proceeding on the lightning network , a second layer protocol that runs on top of bitcoin, opening up channels of fast microtransactions that only settle on the bitcoin network when the channel participants are ready. If you purchase a higher hash rate, you are expected to receive more coins for what you pay for, but it will cost more.