One of the most often asked questions is how people can start accepting Bitcoin payments online. The most obvious answer would be to use a Bitcoin merchant account, such as services offered by BitKassa or BitPay. But if someone wants to cut out all of the middlemen, they have to accept payments directly. Thankfully there are quite a few ways to do so.
#3 The Bitcoin Core RPC Option
Setting up a Bitcoin payment gateway that does not rely on third-party involvement is not a task people should underestimate by any means. Using a merchant account is completely out of the question, which makes the job a lot harder already. But it is possible to accept Bitcoin through some coding, even though that takes some time to set up.
The most difficult solution for novice users would be to interface with the Bitcoin RPC interface directly. Using this method requires a server under the person’s full control (not a web host) to run the Bitcoin Core client itself. Over the years, this software has become more adept at offering functionality for online payments, and the RPC interface can be used to suit this need.
To put this into perspective, one can set up the Bitcoin Core RPC interface to monitor for incoming transactions, as well as seeing when these transactions have received network confirmations. It is a more than viable solution for experienced users, but newcomers may want to explore other options first. After all, setting things up the wrong way could have catastrophic consequences.
#2 An API And Pre-generated Addresses
Another option is just to generate a list of different Bitcoin wallet addresses from an external client–one controlled solely by you, and not a third-party service–and use a particular script to rotate between addresses. Once an address is used, it is automatically removed from the list. This is a somewhat “dirty hack” to achieve a similar goal, but one that prevents address reuse, which is a good thing.
To implement this specific script, one would have to use an API provider to check for incoming transactions. Most services offer such functionality, although it would be wise to look beyond Blockchain.info for such a service. The company is very popular, and their API gets flooded with requests sometimes. Never put your eggs in one basket when you don’t have to.
#1 Electrum Merchant Services
Not too long ago, the Electrum wallet has added some merchant features, which are another option worth exploring. This requires no third-party involvement either, and the user remains in sole control of the Electrum wallet private key. It is also the most documented and easiest method of accepting Bitcoin payments without too much hassle.
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