BTCPay Server — JustSimple.Online

What is BTCPay Server?

Forget the technical words for a second. Let's use a simple story.

🍭 Imagine you have a lemonade stand...

Normally, when someone pays you with a card, a big bank in the middle takes a small cut of your money — like a fee — just for passing the money to you. That's annoying, right?

Bitcoin is like digital coins that you and your friend can send to each other without any bank in the middle.

But to accept Bitcoin at your lemonade stand, you need a special machine — like a cash register — that handles Bitcoin payments. That's exactly what BTCPay Server is! It's a free cash register for Bitcoin that you set up yourself, so nobody can charge you fees or tell you what to do.

You put it on your own computer (or rent a tiny computer online), and boom — anyone in the world can pay you in Bitcoin, the money goes directly into your pocket, and no one can stop you or take a cut. Pretty cool for a lemonade stand! 🍋

📊By the Numbers

Real-world impact of BTCPay Server in production.

$73M

BTC revenue processed by Namecheap

1.1M

Transactions via Namecheap

200+

Stores in Costa Rica (Bitcoin Jungle)

Fees charged by BTCPay Server

25+

E-commerce platform integrations

∞

Open-source & free forever

⚙️How Does It Work?

The complete payment journey from customer to merchant, with no middleman.

Payment Flow — Customer to Merchant

flowchart TD A([🛒 Customer wants to buy something]) --> B[Clicks 'Pay with Bitcoin'] B --> C{BTCPay Server\ngenerates invoice} C --> D[Unique Bitcoin address\n+ QR code created] D --> E([📱 Customer scans QR\nor copies address]) E --> F[Customer sends Bitcoin\nfrom their wallet] F --> G{Bitcoin Network\nverifies transaction} G -->|Confirmed| H[✅ Payment detected\nby BTCPay Server] G -->|Waiting| G H --> I[💰 Bitcoin lands directly\nin Merchant's wallet] H --> J[📧 Merchant gets\nautomated notification] H --> K[🏪 Order marked\nas paid] style A fill:#1a1d27,stroke:#f7931a,color:#e8eaf6 style I fill:#1a2e1a,stroke:#51cf66,color:#e8eaf6 style C fill:#21253a,stroke:#f7931a,color:#e8eaf6 style G fill:#21253a,stroke:#8892b0,color:#e8eaf6

Architecture — Who Controls What

graph LR subgraph Merchant["🏪 Merchant's World"] BTCPay["BTCPay Server\n(self-hosted)"] Wallet["Bitcoin Wallet\n(hardware/software)"] Shop["Online Shop\n(WooCommerce etc.)"] end subgraph Network["🌐 Bitcoin Network"] Nodes["Bitcoin Nodes"] LN["Lightning Network\n(fast payments)"] end subgraph Customer["👤 Customer"] CWallet["Customer's\nBitcoin Wallet"] end Shop -->|plugin| BTCPay BTCPay -->|creates invoices| Wallet BTCPay -->|monitors| Nodes BTCPay -->|optional| LN CWallet -->|sends BTC| Nodes Nodes -->|confirms| BTCPay style Merchant fill:#1a1d27,stroke:#f7931a style Network fill:#1a2027,stroke:#8892b0 style Customer fill:#1a1d27,stroke:#51cf66

🚀Key Features

Everything that comes built-in — for free.

🏪

Point of Sale

A full POS app for physical shops — show a QR code and let customers pay with their phone.

🔗

Payment Links

Share a link with anyone in the world. They click it and pay you Bitcoin directly.

📄

Invoices

Auto-generate professional invoices with real-time exchange rates and payment tracking.

🎁

Crowdfunding

Run a fundraiser where supporters send Bitcoin directly to your campaign goal.

💱

Multi-Currency

Accept Bitcoin, Lightning Network payments, and other cryptocurrencies simultaneously.

🔌

25+ Integrations

Plugins for WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, OpenCart, and many more platforms.

🔐

Hardware Wallet

Connect your Ledger or Trezor — funds go directly to cold storage, ultra secure.

📊

Accounting Exports

Export transaction data in multiple formats for bookkeeping and tax purposes.

🤖

Full API

Automate everything — create stores, manage invoices, handle users via REST API.

🗺️Who Uses It & How

BTCPay Server works for many different types of people and businesses.

Use Case Map

mindmap root((BTCPay Server)) Online Merchants E-commerce stores Digital downloads SaaS subscriptions Physical Retail Restaurants Shops & boutiques Market stalls Freelancers Invoicing clients Payment links Global payments Non-Profits Donation buttons Crowdfunding Fundraising campaigns Developers API integration Custom plugins Automation Communities Local Bitcoin adoption Community wallets Education projects

⚖️BTCPay vs Traditional Payment Processors

Why would someone choose BTCPay over Stripe or PayPal?

Feature	BTCPay Server	PayPal / Stripe
Transaction Fees	0%	1.5%–3.5% per transaction
Account Freezing	Impossible — you own it	Can freeze your account
Privacy	No KYC required	Full identity verification
Censorship Resistance	Cannot be shut down	Can ban users/countries
Cost to Use	Free & open-source	Monthly fees + per-transaction
Data Ownership	100% yours	Shared with company
Setup Complexity	Requires technical setup	Instant signup
Currency	Bitcoin & crypto only	Fiat + some crypto
Chargeback Risk	Zero (Bitcoin is final)	Chargebacks possible

🛠️How Do You Set It Up?

Three ways to get your own BTCPay Server running.

Deployment Options Flowchart

flowchart TD Start([🚀 I want to accept Bitcoin payments]) --> Q1{Do you have\ntechnical skills?} Q1 -->|Yes| Q2{Do you have a\nserver or VPS?} Q1 -->|No| Easy[🤝 Use a Third-Party\nBTCPay Host\nSomeone else runs it\nfor you — community supported] Q2 -->|Yes, cloud VPS| Cloud[☁️ Self-Host on VPS\nDigitalOcean, Vultr, etc.\nRun BTCPay on your own\ncloud server] Q2 -->|Yes, home hardware| Home[🏠 Self-Host at Home\nOld PC or Raspberry Pi\nFull control, no monthly cost] Q2 -->|Not yet| Buy[💳 Get a VPS\n~$6/month\nThen self-host] Cloud --> Done([✅ Accept Bitcoin payments\nwith 0% fees]) Home --> Done Easy --> Done Buy --> Cloud style Start fill:#1a1d27,stroke:#f7931a,color:#e8eaf6 style Done fill:#1a2e1a,stroke:#51cf66,color:#e8eaf6 style Easy fill:#21253a,stroke:#8892b0,color:#e8eaf6

🧱Technology Behind It

What's powering BTCPay Server under the hood.

System Architecture

graph TB subgraph Frontend["🖥️ Frontend"] UI["Web UI\n(Razor / Bootstrap)"] POS["POS App"] CF["Crowdfund App"] end subgraph Backend["⚙️ Backend (ASP.NET Core / C#)"] API["REST API"] InvMgr["Invoice Manager"] WalletMgr["Wallet Manager"] Notif["Notification Service"] end subgraph Bitcoin["₿ Bitcoin Layer"] Node["Bitcoin Full Node\n(Bitcoin Core)"] LN2["Lightning Network\n(LND / CLN / Eclair)"] NBX["NBXplorer\n(wallet indexer)"] end subgraph Store["💾 Storage"] DB["PostgreSQL\nor SQLite"] end UI --> API POS --> API CF --> API API --> InvMgr API --> WalletMgr InvMgr --> DB WalletMgr --> NBX NBX --> Node WalletMgr --> LN2 Notif --> DB style Frontend fill:#1a1d27,stroke:#f7931a style Backend fill:#21253a,stroke:#8892b0 style Bitcoin fill:#1a2027,stroke:#f7931a style Store fill:#1a1d27,stroke:#51cf66

📅Brief History

From a forum post to a global payment infrastructure.

2017 — The Beginning

Nicolas Dorier created BTCPay Server in response to BitPay (a competing service) supporting a controversial Bitcoin fork. His famous tweet: "This is lies, my trust in you is broken, I will make you obsolete."

2018 — Open Source Launch

Released publicly on GitHub. Community contributors begin joining from around the world.

2019 — BTCPay Server Foundation

A non-profit foundation established to fund development and ensure long-term sustainability.

2020–2022 — Rapid Growth

Lightning Network support added. Shopify integration. Thousands of merchants worldwide adopt BTCPay.

2023–Present — Enterprise Scale

Namecheap processes $73M through BTCPay. Bitcoin Jungle enables 200+ Costa Rican stores. Continuous feature development.

✨Summary

🎯 The one-sentence version

BTCPay Server is a free, self-hosted Bitcoin cash register — it lets anyone in the world accept Bitcoin payments directly, with zero fees, no middleman, and no one who can shut you down.

It's like owning your own bank branch — but for the internet, and built with Bitcoin.