How to pay in Bitcoin.

Before you start

Three things to know first.

1. 01

   Buy before you open the invoice

   An invoice holds the euro price for twenty minutes. That is enough time to send coins you already hold, not enough to open an exchange account. Buy first, then come back and start the purchase.

2. 02

   Buy a little more than the price

   The exchange charges a fee to buy and a small fee to send, and the Bitcoin network charges a fee of its own. Buying about five percent more than the invoice covers all of it. Whatever is left stays yours.

3. 03

   The first time is slow

   Exchanges check your identity when you open an account and many hold freshly bought coins for a few days before letting you send them. Once the account exists, buying and paying takes minutes.

Where to buy

Any regulated exchange works.

• —Canada: Shakepay, Newton, Bitbuy, Wealthsimple, Kraken or Coinbase. Fund the account by Interac e-Transfer or debit card. Most Canadian credit cards refuse the purchase or treat it as a cash advance, so do not plan on credit.
• —Europe: Bitvavo, Kraken, Coinbase or Relai. Fund by SEPA transfer or debit card.
• —United Kingdom: Kraken or Coinbase, funded by Faster Payments or debit card.
• —Cash: Bitcoin ATMs in most cities sell coins for cash into a wallet app on your phone. Fees are high, often ten percent or more, and small amounts need only a phone number.
• —Already hold Bitcoin? Pay from any wallet. Phone wallets with Lightning support settle in seconds.

Paying the invoice

From buy to paid in five steps.

• —Open your billing page and choose a period. The exact start and end dates are shown before you commit.
• —The invoice opens on Aurora's payment server. It shows the amount in Bitcoin, an address and a QR code, and counts down twenty minutes.
• —From your exchange or wallet choose Send or Withdraw, paste the address or scan the code, and enter exactly the Bitcoin amount shown. If your exchange supports Lightning, choose it: payment is immediate.
• —Wait on the invoice page. An on-chain payment is seen within minutes and counts as paid after one confirmation, usually ten to twenty minutes. Lightning is instant.
• —The page turns to Paid, your period starts, and a receipt goes to your email. Nothing renews. When the period ends you decide whether to buy another.

If something goes wrong

Bitcoin cannot be reversed by a bank, so here is what we do instead.

The invoice expired before I paid.

Nothing was charged and nothing was sent. Go back to your billing page and start a new invoice; the price is the same.

I sent the coins after the invoice expired.

The payment still arrives at our server and is recorded against that invoice. Write to [email protected] with the invoice reference and we apply the period by hand, or refund you to an address you give us.

I sent too little or too much.

Too little: the invoice page shows the remaining amount and you can send the rest while it is open. Too much: write to us and we refund the difference to an address you give us.

Does Aurora see my bank or my wallet?

No. We see a payment arriving at the address on your invoice and nothing else. The exchange sees your identity and your purchase, as any bank would, and sees nothing about Aurora.

Why not cards?

Card networks and the companies built on them refuse businesses in this sector, and the few that accept them take a large cut and can close an account without notice. Bitcoin lets Aurora charge a fair price and keep running. Read more on trust and safety.