Accepting Bitcoin

Accepting bitcoin in a business is technically simpler than most guides suggest. You do not need a payment processor. You do not need a merchant account. You do not need approval from a payment network. What you need is a wallet, a way to generate payment requests, and a decision about what to do with the bitcoin afterwards.

BTCPay Server: The Standard

BTCPay Server is open-source payment processing software for Bitcoin and Lightning. It is free. It is self-hosted (or hosted by a provider). It charges no fees beyond the network transaction fee. It is the standard tool for businesses accepting bitcoin.

What BTCPay provides:

• Payment request generation — create invoices with on-chain and Lightning payment options, QR codes, and payment links.
• Point of sale — a web-based POS interface for physical retail. Display on a tablet or phone at the counter.
• E-commerce integration — plugins for WooCommerce, Shopify, PrestaShop, and other platforms.
• Accounting export — transaction records with fiat-equivalent values at the time of each payment, for tax reporting.
• No KYC, no third party — payments settle directly to a wallet you control. BTCPay never touches the funds.

Setup Time

A basic BTCPay Server instance can be deployed in under an hour. If you use a hosting provider like LunaNode or Voltage, the process is: create an account, deploy a BTCPay instance, connect your wallet (hardware or software), and configure your store. The result is a payment endpoint that generates invoices and tracks settlements.

For self-hosting, you need a server (a small VPS is sufficient) and a domain name. BTCPay provides Docker-based deployment that automates most of the configuration. Technical users can have it running in 30 minutes.

The Customer Experience

From the customer's perspective, paying with bitcoin via BTCPay is straightforward. They see a payment page with a QR code and an amount. They scan the QR code with their wallet, confirm the amount, and send. For Lightning payments, confirmation is instant. For on-chain payments, the merchant can choose how many confirmations to require before marking the order as paid.

For e-commerce, the payment page integrates into the checkout flow like any other payment option. The customer selects "Pay with Bitcoin," is shown the invoice, and completes the payment. No account creation required. No personal data collected by the payment processor.

Costs Compared

Credit card processing costs 2–3% per transaction plus a fixed fee per transaction. PayPal charges 2.9% plus a fixed fee. BTCPay Server charges nothing — it is free software. The only cost is the network transaction fee: negligible on Lightning (fractions of a cent), and variable on-chain (typically €0.10 to €5 depending on network congestion).

For a business processing €500,000 annually, the saving against credit card fees is approximately €10,000–€15,000 per year. That is cash that stays in the business.