Paying with Bitcoin: timing, fees and the price window

Bitcoin is accepted at our checkout, and for some people it is the natural choice: it is what they hold, and moving it to a stablecoin first would add a trade and a fee. Paying with bitcoin works well, but it behaves differently from paying with a stablecoin in three ways: the price moves while you pay, confirmations take longer, and network fees vary a lot from hour to hour. Here is how to handle each.

1. The price window

Your order total is set in US dollars. When you choose bitcoin on the checkout page, it converts that total into an exact amount of BTC at the current rate and holds that quote for a limited time. A countdown on the page shows how long. Send within that window and the payment is matched to the quote, even if the market moves a little before it confirms.

Send after the window closes and the situation gets messy: the amount may no longer match what the checkout expects. Our guide to expired checkout quotes explains what happens then. The practical advice is simple: have your wallet open and funded before you press "Continue to payment", so the only thing left is to paste the address and amount.

2. Confirmation time

A bitcoin transaction is added to a block roughly every ten minutes on average, though the gap varies. Checkouts usually wait for at least one confirmation before reporting a payment as complete, and sometimes more for larger amounts. That means a bitcoin payment can take from about ten minutes to an hour or longer to move your order from "Awaiting payment" to "Pending review".

During busy periods, transactions with low fees can wait in the queue (the mempool) for a long time. That is the main reason to pay attention to the fee you set.

3. Network fees

Bitcoin fees are not fixed. They depend on how busy the network is and on the size of your transaction in bytes, which depends on how many separate coins (inputs) your wallet combines to make the payment. Most wallets offer a slow, medium and fast option and show an estimated wait for each.

For a checkout payment, choose a fee that gets the transaction confirmed comfortably within the quote window. Saving a little with the slowest option can cost you much more if the quote expires and the payment has to be sorted out by hand. If your wallet supports replace-by-fee, you can raise the fee later on a stuck transaction, but it is easier to choose sensibly at the start.

The fee comes on top of the amount the checkout asks for. Make sure the amount you send matches the checkout exactly; do not subtract the fee from it.

When bitcoin makes sense, and when it does not

Good fit

• You already hold BTC and the order is large enough that the network fee is a small share of it.
• You are not in a hurry, and a confirmation time of up to an hour is fine.
• Your wallet lets you choose fees and shows confirmation estimates.

Poor fit

• A small card, where a network fee of a few dollars is a large share of the total.
• Payments sent from an exchange that batches or delays bitcoin withdrawals, which can push you past the quote window.
• Days when fees are spiking. A stablecoin on a cheap network may cost far less to send.

If the fee looks unreasonable, compare it with sending a stablecoin instead; our USDT network guide shows the alternatives.

A step-by-step routine

1. Open your wallet and check you hold enough BTC for the total plus a comfortable fee.
2. On the order page, check the receipt: balance, the 15% top-up charge and $5.00 for issuing, then press "Continue to payment".
3. Choose Bitcoin on the checkout and note the time left on the quote.
4. Copy the address and the exact amount from the checkout page. Paste, do not type.
5. Choose a fee that confirms well within the window and send.
6. Keep the checkout page open until it shows the payment as detected.

After confirmation, the order moves to "Pending review". A person checks the payment and issues your card. Paid orders are usually checked and issued within a few hours.

Keeping a record

Your wallet shows the transaction ID and a link to a block explorer. You will not need to send it to us, because the checkout reports the payment automatically, but it is worth keeping in case of questions. Keeping proof of a crypto payment covers what to save. The pricing page shows card totals, and the how it works page covers the full route.

Quick answers

Can I pay with bitcoin over the Lightning Network?

Only the options shown on the checkout page are supported. If Lightning is not listed, send an on-chain payment.

What if my transaction is still unconfirmed hours later?

Raise the fee if your wallet allows it. If the quote has expired by the time it confirms, open a support ticket with the order reference.