Bitcoin payments on the Lightning NetWork are really very simple today. Many merchants already offer their services and goods for Bitcoins. So there is no need to complexly use the classic FIAT currencies.

So you see, there are many options.

Choose one and install it on the device you will have with you when you pay, probably a smart phone. Initial installation for all the wallets tested is simple and straightforward. Of course, it’s good to follow all the known security rules, but just like a traditional wallet, you won’t have all your funds, just your regular petty cash. So there is no need to worry unnecessarily.

Now that everything is ready, the following procedure will describe how to put the appropriate small “cash” in the wallet, corresponding to your normal purchases:

• • You issue a request on your device to replenish “cash” according to your needs. In Lightning Network language, we call this make an Invoice.
  • you pass the information from the Invoice about the amount to the counterparty from where you draw the “cash” (another wallet, friend, customer, vault, exchange). For example, you can generate a QR code and show it to the payer (or send it to them if you are not in their location).
  • The payer reads the required information, for example by scanning the QR code you transmit (or adding it from the file you sent) and confirms the payment.
  • Usually within a second (depending on the Payer’s system), the “cash” appears in your wallet.

You are now ready for shopping and off you go. In the next episode, we’ll take a virtual tour of your favorite store.

P.S. – If you’re impatient and in a hurry, try management.hydranode.net :-).

Ak vám však príde viac tržieb v BTC a viete, že napríklad na konci mesiaca budete potrebovať tento príjem, je možné si jednoducho “zafixovať” hodnotu na platforme lnmarkets.com.

Môžete sa anonymne prihlásiť bez registrácie pomocou Lightning loginu cez peňaženku Phoenix (odporúčame).

Tu si depozitnete svoje satoshi. 

A po kliknutí na Swap ich zmenite za “syntetické” USD. Týmto sa nekúpia žiadne doláre ani tether, ale otvoríte jednoduchú short pozíciu (bez poplatku). V praxi to znamená, že ak bitcoin zníži svoju cenu, vám zostáva presne rovnaká hodnota.

Tento proces môžete kedykoľvek obrátiť a “syntetické” doláre si zmeniť na satoshi podľa aktuálneho kurzu a následne vybrať bez poplatku.

Pravdaže, ak cena bitcoinu spraví klasický pohyb hore – prichádzate o možnosť kapitalizovať na tom. Odporúčame preto, využívať túto funkciu iba na krátkodobé zmeny v rozsahu mesiacov.

However, if you receive more of the BTC revenue and know that you will need this income at the end of the month, for example, it is possible to “lock in” the value on the lnmarkets.com platform.

You can log in anonymously without registering using the Lightning login via the Phoenix wallet (recommended).

You deposit your satoshi here. 

Click on Swap to exchange them for “synthetic” USD. This will not buy any dollars or tether, but you will open a simple short position (no fee). In practice, this means that if bitcoin drops in price, you are left with exactly the same value.

You can reverse this process at any time, change your “synthetic” dollars to satoshi at the current exchange rate, and then withdraw at no charge. 

Admittedly, if the price of bitcoin makes a classic upward move – you lose the ability to capitalize on it. Therefore, we recommend using this feature only for short-term changes in the range of months.

Disclaimer: LNmarkets is custodial exchange and your sats are at counterparty risk. If they disapear, you will lose your money.

We since started accepting standard payment rails because, to be frank, the critical mass is not there yet. But it will come, since BTC is just a better method of payment, and in the long run it will show.

This is especially true in international settlements, where the traditional payment rails are antiquated and inadequate for even medium size transactions. Read: they might be OK for established multinationals but start ups pay the price of inefficient money transfers.

When Degoogled.com accepts fiat payments, it does still pay fees that are inherent to the way the fiat system works: transfer fees, inefficient exchange rates, sometimes multiple exchange losses on a single transaction, multiple delays in accessing the liquidity… the list goes on and on.

But we’re here to talk about bitcoin, the currency of the future.

Bitcoin, used in the way that Hydranode proposes, that is on the lightning network, eliminates the transaction fees. Well, the fees are not exactly zero, however they are fair, expressed already in the same currency being accepted, and somewhat adaptable.

Transactions are super-fast, and in this specific implementation by Hydranode they run over TOR 100% of the time making it for us that e value privacy a very valuable proposition.

About the Hydranode Installation

To install the BTCPay server terminal to our Shopify website we had to go through a bunch of steps.

In the past Shopify was great because all the payment gateways were added via an easy and intuitive API integration. Nowadays instead, Shopify operates some sort of whitelisting. If you want to add something like Coinbase, well, they’re whitelisted, so you just need to go to Settings > Payments > Add payment methods and ta-daa, you choose from the list and you’re done.

For BTCPay it’s a bit more complicated as the process will require you to “develop” a custom app. Shopify tries to “hide” this feature in a way, but it’s still there and this feature can be “unlocked” by going to Settings > Apps and sales channels > Develop apps.

There is an excellent article by BTCpayserver themselves that does all the explaining in details, so I don’t have to bore you here with the technicalities; if you too want to link your Hydranode to your Shopify see this: https://docs.btcpayserver.org/Shopify/

The guys at Hydranode are following step by step and helping with the integration; there’s literally a dedicated technicians that guides with the integration via Signal messanger.

Time it took to do the linking once everything (that is Shopify and the BTCpayserver instance) is ready to go? Half hour, tops!

Thank you to the guys at Hydranode for the product, I wish them a bright future ahead of them.

We offer integration to many existing solutions. It is our duty to inform you about options that are easy to implement in your e-shop.

1. Well known platforms – WooComerce, Shopify, PrestaShop, Drupal, Magento, …

The plugins for these e-commerce systems are ready, tested, functional and in production. Their installation is a matter of a few minutes. Complete implementation of BTC/LN payments into your business is therefore a matter of hours.

2. Custom plugins for your private solution

If you have developed your own system for e-commerce, it is not problem to connect it to Hydranode. We provide rich API that allows you to process any requests for receiving payments in BTC/LN and detecting their status in seconds. If you have any requirements for extending of payment channels features, we are ready to respond quickly to your requests.