Paying with Bitcoin at Bitaxe.de: 5 % off, on-chain or via Lightning

At Bitaxe.de you can pay with Bitcoin, on-chain or via Lightning, and you get 5 % off the value of the goods for it. Payment runs through our own BTCPay Server, with no payment provider in between. This article walks you through the process step by step, explains exactly what the discount covers and answers the usual questions about paying: fees, waiting times, expired invoices, wrong amounts and refunds.

What the Bitcoin discount covers

The discount is 5 % of the value of the goods, meaning the total of the items in your cart: €5 for every €100 of goods. Shipping costs stay the same. It applies equally to on-chain and Lightning payments, to every product and without a minimum order value.

You do not need to enter anything. As soon as you select Bitcoin as the payment method at checkout, the summary shows the line “Bitcoin discount (−5%)” and the total drops accordingly. On the invoice the discount later appears as a separate line.

Each order gets one discount. If you redeem a discount code, for example the welcome code from the newsletter, a code from Bitaxe Rewards or a partner’s code, only the code applies, even if you pay with Bitcoin. A 5 % code therefore adds nothing on top of a Bitcoin payment. If your code is worth more than 5 % of the goods, keep it. If it is worth less, remove it at checkout and pay with Bitcoin.

For comparison, the other payment methods in the shop:

All the details are on the payment methods page.

Why we reward Bitcoin payments

A Bitcoin payment needs no payment provider: nobody taking a cut of every payment, no chargebacks, no bank details for us to process. We pass that advantage on to you as a discount. And it fits: with a Bitaxe you contribute hashrate to the Bitcoin network, with the payment you use it.

The invoice is created by our own BTCPay Server. BTCPay Server is free, open-source software that lets merchants accept Bitcoin directly, without a third party holding the money. Why your own node and your own hashrate belong together is explained in our node guide.

Step 1: get some Bitcoin

If you already hold Bitcoin in a wallet or on an exchange, skip this step.

If not, an exchange is the easiest route, for example Kraken: open an account, verify it, buy Bitcoin. You can then pay straight from the exchange or from your own wallet after withdrawing the Bitcoin to it.

Buy a little more than the amount of your order. The exchange charges a withdrawal fee, and on-chain the network fee comes on top; via Lightning the fees are usually tiny. Whatever is left after paying stays yours.

Please note: only buy as much Bitcoin as you want to use for your order or for yourself. The price fluctuates, and this article is not investment advice.

Step 2: order and choose Bitcoin

Put your miner in the cart, for example a Bitaxe Gamma, a Bitaxe GT or a NerdQaxe++. Which model suits you is covered in the buying guide and the comparison. At checkout you enter your email and delivery address as usual and choose Bitcoin & Lightning as the payment method. The discount shows up in the summary straight away.

After you place the order, checkout takes you directly to the invoice on our BTCPay Server. At the same time you receive the order confirmation by email. As long as payment is outstanding, it contains the button “Pay with Bitcoin now”, and the order page shows a “Pay now” button. Both open the same invoice again, so if you close the window by accident, nothing is lost.

Step 3: pay the invoice

The invoice shows you:

• the amount in BTC: converted from the euro total of your order, with the discount already deducted, at a rate that stays fixed while the invoice is valid
• a countdown showing how long the invoice remains valid
• the tabs Bitcoin (on-chain) and Lightning, each with its own QR code
• the receiving address to copy and the “Pay in wallet” button, which opens your wallet app directly on a phone

Via Lightning: choose the “Lightning” tab, scan the QR code with your Lightning wallet, confirm. The payment goes through within seconds, the invoice shows it as paid, and BTCPay takes you back to your order automatically.

On-chain: choose the “Bitcoin” tab, scan the QR code or copy the address and send exactly the amount shown. The invoice detects the payment as soon as it appears on the network. The order counts as paid once the transaction is confirmed. A new block is found every ten minutes on average; with too low a fee, confirmation can take much longer.

Check quickly before sending:

• Amount: exactly the BTC amount shown has to arrive. If your wallet or exchange deducts the fee from the amount you enter, too little arrives.
• Network: Bitcoin (BTC) or Lightning. No other blockchain and no Bitcoin tokens on other networks.
• Time: send while the countdown is still running.

Step 4: confirmation and invoice

As soon as the payment is confirmed, you receive the “Payment received” email with the invoice number and a link to the invoice, and we start preparing your shipment. The invoice shows all amounts in euros, the discount as a separate line and, for deliveries within the EU, the VAT of your delivery country included in the price. As long as payment is outstanding there is no invoice yet; until then the document on the order page is called order confirmation.

When something goes wrong

The payment is stuck unconfirmed in the mempool

If you sent in time but with a low fee, the transaction waits in the mempool until a miner includes it in a block. That is no reason to worry. As soon as the payment has been seen on the network, your order is protected from automatic cancellation. BTCPay keeps watching a payment sent in time for seven days, and the shop continuously reconciles open Bitcoin orders with BTCPay: once the full amount has arrived and is confirmed, the order is booked as paid, even if that happens days later. So do not send a second time. You can follow your transaction on mempool.space; if your wallet supports it, you can raise the fee afterwards (replace-by-fee).

The invoice expired before you paid

Then do not send anything to the old invoice. If no payment has arrived, the open order is cancelled automatically about an hour after it was placed. Simply put the items in your cart again and place a new order; the BTC amount is then calculated at the current rate.

You sent too little or too much

If less arrives than requested, the invoice shows the remaining amount while it is still valid, and you can settle it with a second payment to the same invoice. If it expires with a partial payment, write to us straight away with your order number via contact. We can see the incoming payment and sort the case out by hand: settle the rest and ship the order, or pay the amount back. If you sent too much, the order is paid; get in touch about the surplus with your order number as well.

Refunds after a withdrawal

Your right of withdrawal does not depend on the payment method. As described in the cancellation policy, we refund using the same means of payment you used for the order, so a Bitcoin payment is refunded in Bitcoin, unless we expressly agree otherwise. We do not charge you any fees for the refund.

Frequently asked questions about paying with Bitcoin