Because of the better speeds provided by a SOCKS5 proxy (when compared to other proxies such as a HTTP proxy), many people are interested in having a SOCKS5 proxy for torrenting.
One of the biggest advantages of SOCKS5 proxy is that most BitTorrent clients make it easy to connect to the proxy from within the client itself. This creates peace of mind for the user, because it means that the torrent client always uses the proxy IP when torrenting. As a result, the user gains improved security because they always conceal their actual IP address from other users in the swarm.
The important thing to remember is that while a SOCKS5 proxy can easily be set up on a torrent client, and is faster than many other proxies, it is nowhere near as fast or secure as a full VPN tunnel. This means that 99 percent of people who torrent would always be better off connecting to a VPN rather than a SOCKS5 proxy.
A VPN not only conceals your IP address from the swarm, but it also conceals your downloads from local network admins, ISPs, and potentially government snoops. This is because the VPN encrypts your data, and handles your DNS requests privately, keeping it secure against eavesdroppers.
Finally, anybody considering the use of a SOCKS5 proxy over a VPN is reminded that it can be highly risky to use random SOCKS5 proxies provided by unknown sources. Using an unverified SOCKS5 proxy found online could result in your data being intercepted and stolen as it passes through the proxy. This is why it is essential to stick to a SOCKS5 proxy provided by a trustworthy VPN that has watertight privacy policies in place.